Pestra Tech Day 2026 Addresses Fire Safety, Intelligent Security
Raheem Akingbolu
Fire and life safety in Nigeria’s built environment took centre stage at the fourth edition of Pestra Tech Day, where government officials, technology manufacturers and industry professionals gathered in Lagos to examine how stronger standards, deeper technical capacity and emerging technologies can make buildings safer, smarter and more resilient.
Hosted by Pestra Ltd in Lagos recently, the event was held under the theme “Closing the Fire Safety Gap in Nigeria’s Built Environment.” It brought together consultants, system integrators, contractors, end users and technology partners for a programme that combined policy discussion with technical presentations, product demonstrations and industry engagement.
Opening the discussions, Managing Director of Pestra Ltd, Mr. Paul Nwokolo, said Pestra Tech Day was conceived as more than a product showcase. He described it as a forum for examining technology in practical terms, bringing together the people who design, specify, regulate, deploy and use critical safety, security and communication systems.
“This is why Pestra Tech Day matters. Today gives us an opportunity to look beyond brochures and product specifications – to exchange ideas, challenge assumptions, learn from experts, experience emerging technologies and consider how global innovation can address local realities.”
Nwokolo’s remarks set the context for the day’s principal policy intervention: a keynote address by the Controller General of the Federal Fire Service, Mr. S.A. Olumode, on “Closing the Fire and Life Safety Gap in Nigeria’s Built Environment.”
Olumode placed fire detection and prevention at the heart of the discussion, emphasising the need to narrow the gap between modern building requirements and the systems, practices and professional capacity needed to protect lives and property. His address reinforced the wider purpose of this year’s Tech Day – to look beyond individual products and consider how safety systems are designed, specified, integrated, maintained and used throughout the life of a building.
From that policy focus, the programme moved into the technologies and operational practices shaping safer and more efficient facilities. Mr. Theo Everaers, Managing Director of Telecom – Pneumatic Tube Systems in the Netherlands, presented pneumatic tube technology and its role in improving internal logistics and operational workflows in modern healthcare environments.
The conversation then turned to intelligent security. Hanwha Vision’s Regional Manager for Africa, Mr. Abbassy Omar, examined the growing role of artificial intelligence in modern security operations, highlighting advances in intelligent video surveillance, video analytics, licence plate recognition, thermal imaging and related technologies designed to help organisations detect threats earlier, improve situational awareness and respond more effectively to security incidents.
That focus on AI-enabled security led naturally into the cyber risks surrounding increasingly connected buildings and edge systems. Specialist Adoption Architect at Red Hat, Francis Anyaegbu, spoke on “Intelligent Security & the Quantum Challenge,” describing smart security cameras, digital access readers, edge telemetry nodes, video conferencing systems and other connected devices as an expanding front line of enterprise risk as artificial intelligence accelerates both cyberattacks and defensive capabilities. In his presentation, Anyaegbu said data breaches now cost organisations an average of $5.0 million per incident, with exposure increasing by about $1,100 for every hour an adversary remains undetected. He also pointed to a 1,500 per cent surge in deepfakes, the spread of unmonitored “Shadow AI,” and the emerging threat that quantum computing poses to conventional encryption. He argued that organisations must move beyond traditional perimeter-based controls towards open, quantum-safe architectures built on digital trust, machine-speed defence and stronger visibility over automated AI agents and connected systems, highlighting post-quantum cryptography, digital sovereignty and tighter AI governance as foundations for long-term resilience. Returning the discussion to fire and life safety, Senior Territory Manager at Honeywell Technologies, Mr. Ziad Hafez, highlighted developments across Honeywell’s life-safety portfolios, including advanced fire detection, intelligent alarm systems and connected life-safety solutions designed to support earlier warning, faster emergency response and more resilient buildings. He also underscored Honeywell’s collaboration with Pestra to strengthen access to its fire, life-safety and security technologies in Nigeria, providing consultants, system integrators and end users with a dependable local channel for genuine Honeywell products, backed by appropriate technical and after-sales support. The collaboration is intended to reduce the risks associated with counterfeit or improperly sourced equipment and give customers greater confidence that critical systems are built around authentic products supported through the manufacturer’s channel.
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