Frédéric Chavanne reports on a meeting of people from one of Africa’s most turbulent regions.

For over 300 years the Quakers have been working for peace and acting as mediators. Campbell Leggat mines the experience of a group who have never been afraid to stand up to power or to listen at the deepest level.

Alhaji Ado Bayero gave up his diplomatic career to become the ruler of some eight million Muslims in the Nigerian state of Kano. In his new role he has worked to bridge his country's divisions. ' Robo Judith Ukoko, a Christian from the southern delta area of Nigeria, travelled to his historic palace.

Another African leader, General Joseph Lagu, former Vice-President of the Sudan, also took part. As a guerrilla leader in the bush, he fought against the Arab North in Sudan's first civil war.

A recent Nigerian conference took a form strikingly different from the usual sedentary occasions held within four walls. This 'rolling conference' spanned four different venues hundreds of miles apart.