Supporters of the late Chief Moshood Abiola, the Nigerian opposition leader who was buried at the weekend, are struggling to face an uncertain political future.
Most have yet to recover from his sudden death which, according to the military government, occurred as he was about be released from custody.
"We're being forced to play Hamlet without the prince," said Mr Otumba Olabiyi Durojaiye, a former presidential candidate and ally of Chief Abiola.
The tycoon politician, who apparently died from a heart attack, was buried amid scenes of hysteria at his home in the capital, Lagos. Thousands of people pushed to get a glimpse of their hero as his shrouded corpse was buried.
Among those who observed the mass of mourners from the balconies of the Abiola villa were his two wives and numerous mistresses.
By virtue of his apparent presidential victory being annulled in 1993, Chief Abiola became a symbol for pro-democracy campaigners in Nigeria. Even opposition supporters who had criticised his links with the military rallied to his cause. His four-year incarceration by the late Gen Sani Abacha assured his status as a martyr.
"Abiola was a big name," said Ms Nike Ransome-Kuti, an opposition activist and daughter of Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, who was imprisoned for nearly four years under the Abacha regime. "No other opposition figure has such a wide political network. But there are others who can uphold the principles he stood for and I think we're going to see people emerging now, being more outspoken than they were under Abacha."
The head of state, Gen Abdusalam Abubakar, has declared his commitment to democratic, civilian rule for Nigeria and has released dozens of political prisoners. He is due to address the nation on plans for a transition to democracy this week.
However, the opposition, certainly the more radical opposition, is not impressed. Its members have seen too many Nigerian leaders making grand gestures, then going back on promises to cede power. Hundreds of political prisoners also remain in jail.
"The military must go now," insists Mr Femi Falana, of the Campaign for Democracy. "There's no way they can stay around and conduct credible elections. The military would only produce surrogates to protect their own interests. And before long they would end up back in power."
Opposition groups want the immediate formation of an interim government of national unity. A national conference would be convened to consult political opinion countrywide and a new electoral commission would be set up to oversee elections within a few years.
There is widespread anti-military feeling, particularly in south Nigeria, yet the military still holds most of the cards. Lacking a coherent agenda, the opposition must at present content itself with whatever concessions the men in power are prepared to make.
A former military ruler of Nigeria, Gen Olusegun Obasanjo, who handed power over to a civilian administration in 1979, yesterday paid tribute to Chief Abiola. Speaking to reporters in Nigeria, he said: "His (Abiola's) tragedy is our tragedy and the tragedy of Nigeria."