African leaders should avoid post-election violence and learn how to deploy internal mechanism to resolve conflicts, Deputy Secretary-General (Political), Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr. Josephine Ojiambo, has said.

Ojiambo, a former ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, said this at the 7th International Students' Day organised by the University of Ilorin Centre for International Studies.

"I want to call on all of us to avoid post-election violence. Conflict is very difficult to manage,? particularly if you allow external influence," she said. She praised former president Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat during the 2015 general elections, which ushered in President Muhammadu Buhari.

She also acknowledged that though "Professor Attahiru Jega-led Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted a free, fair and credible election, Jonathan's concession saved Nigeria from violence, ?like what was experienced in her country, Kenya, in 2011.