Initialize pointer to connection (no replies)

I create a pointer to a connection like in the examples:

sql::Connection *con;

Now, I would like to initialize this connection, but not with sql::driver::connect(), because I may not be able to create a connection immediately before my program tries to use the pointer.

I see some use mysql_init(null), but I am using statically linked libraries and cannot see this available. Do I have any options?