◆TOGO◆

西アフリカのトーゴを38年にわたり支配したニャシンベ・エヤデマ大統領の死去を受け、軍部が後継者として擁立した息子のフォーレ・ニャシンベ氏が新大統領に就任した。

When Gnassingbe Eyadema seized power in Togo in 1967, it was the era of the Big Man in Africa. Like many leaders of his generation, Eyadema ruthlessly crushed opposition forces, nurtured a cult of personality, then clung to power decade after decade, growing rich as his tiny West African nation stayed poor. But his Feb. 5 death from a heart attack and the Togolese military’s decision to anoint his son as his successor have come during a different—and increasingly democratic—era on the continent.