THE OTOTONOBI NEWS PLANETS.

 *YAHAYA BELLO, LOUIS XIV AND THE LIMITS OF ABSOLUTISM*   *By Tunde Olusunle*  Since he became governor in circumstances which remain fuzzy over seven years ago, Yahaya Bello, the governor of Kogi State, has left no one in doubt about his totalitarian grip on the north central state. He is the be-all-and-end-all of the potentially rich, but pathetically indigent and decrepit state, whose style reminds of that of the infamous King Louis XIV in French history. Louis XIV it was who boastfully declared in 1655: *L'Etat, c'est moi,* meaning "I am the state; the state, that is me." That phrase denotes absolute monarchy and absolutism, the type Yahaya Bello has typified in his tour of duty as default governor of Kogi State. Default, yes because of the uncanny ingenuity with which he inherited the votes and mandate of the actual contestant for the governorship who was coasting home but died mysteriously before being adjudged winner.  And since his inauguration January 2...