1Mega Chad Conferences are the main scientific activity of the « Association Méga-Tchad », Paris. Mega Chad Association was founded 20 years ago and its membership is comprised of mainly academics of disciplines such as social anthropology, environment, geography, history, linguistics, poiltical sciences as well as other social and natural sciences concerned with the geographical Mega Chad region. So far, all conferences had been organised in European countries, i.e. France, Germany, and The Netherlands. Mega Chad Asociation’s congregation, at its last meeting, agreed unanimously that the time had come to hold the next conference on the African continent. Although at that time no formal relationship existed between Association Mega-Tchad and Nigeria, Prof. Kyari Tijani, then Director of Centre for Trans-Saharan Studies, applied to the Association to hold the 2003 Mega Chad Conference at University of Maiduguri. His plea was granted and the entire organisation of the conference rested with University of Maiduguri. Maiduguri had –apart from its geographically central location– the added advantage of thus bringing together academics from French and English-speaking African countries for whom participation in Europe is financially almost impossible.

2The Conference was divided into 12 sessions with topics such as "Frontiers and boundaries in the Lake Chad area", "Lake Chad Basin – turntable of migration", "Human masses flow like water according to economic gradation", ’The family in Islam, Christianity, colonialism – modern quest for survival", ’Social structure and stratification In the Mega Chad region", "Women’s coping mechanisms in contemporary times", "Mobile pastoral systems: Contributions and challenges", "Traditional knowledge In the Lake Chad region", "Chad Basin – a linguistic watering place", "Civilisations in the Chad Basin". Over 40 papers were presented by scholars from Belgium, Cameroon, Chad Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Niger Republic, Nigeria, and Senegal. Subsequent discussions were intellectually exciting and lively and conducted in a most pleasant athmosphere, which is, unfortunately, so often missed during symposia, workshops, and conferences.

3Prof. Catherine Baroin, President of Association Méga-Tchad, reiterated In her closing remarks the great importance of this "Africa meeting" for intellectual exchange across language borders and stressed that not only Africans had met French or English-speaking African colleagues for the first time but that also non-French-speaking Europeans at long last were able to establish personal contacts with their Mega Chad-concerned colleagues.