In Togo’s Dynastic Transition, An Echo of Yesterday’s Africa

JOHANNESBURG, Feb. 7 — 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.