Pestra Tech Day 2026 Puts Fire Safety, Intelligent Security, others in Focus

…as regulators, consultants, global technology companies brainstorm

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 at the Marriott Hotel in Ikeja GRA, 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, Mr. Paul Nwokolo, Managing Director of Pestra Ltd, 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. Francis Anyaegbu, Specialist Adoption Architect at Red Hat, 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, Mr. Ziad Hafez, Senior Territory Manager at Honeywell Technologies, 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.

Taken together, the presentations pointed to a broader convergence in building technology. Physical security, fire protection, communications, operational systems and cybersecurity are increasingly expected to function as parts of the same connected environment rather than as isolated disciplines. As buildings become more software-driven and AI-enabled, resilience depends not only on what systems can detect and automate, but also on how securely they exchange, process and protect data.

Against that backdrop, Pestra used the event to introduce its expanded technology portfolio. The company’s offering now includes Televic professional communication and conference systems; Honeywell Security solutions; Hanwha Vision video surveillance and access control systems; and LBA physical security solutions. The additions broaden Pestra’s reach across security, safety and communication systems, while giving customers and channel partners access to a wider range of globally recognised manufacturers.

The expanded portfolio reflects Pestra’s broader business model. The company provides solutions across electronic security, fire life safety, IT and communication systems, and pneumatic tube systems, supported by technology distribution, engineering design, project management, after-sales support and training. Its work spans applications including smart cities, security operations centres, e-parliament and critical infrastructure protection.

For Pestra, the annual Tech Day has increasingly become a meeting point for manufacturers, consultants, integrators, regulators and end users – groups that often approach the same building or infrastructure project from different technical and operational perspectives. Bringing those perspectives together, the company said, is essential to moving from isolated technologies towards more coherent and dependable systems.

That cross-disciplinary mix was particularly relevant this year, as the programme connected fire life safety policy with intelligent surveillance, cyber resilience, secure digital infrastructure, communications and the technologies that support day-to-day building operations. By placing regulators, technology manufacturers and practitioners on the same platform, the event sought to encourage a more integrated response to the safety, security and digital-risk challenges facing Nigeria’s built environment.

The fourth edition of Pestra Tech Day also marked a further expansion of Pestra’s international technology partnerships, as the company continues to position itself as a value-added distributor and technical support partner for security, safety, communications and building-technology solutions in Africa.

Across the day’s discussions, a common theme emerged: safer and smarter facilities can no longer be achieved by treating fire safety, physical security, communications, cybersecurity and operational technology as separate concerns. As buildings become more connected, long-term resilience will increasingly depend on how effectively these disciplines are designed to work together and on whether the technologies behind them can be trusted.

Pestra said it intends to keep Tech Day as a platform for that wider conversation, bringing regulators, manufacturers, consultants, integrators and end users together to exchange knowledge, strengthen professional capacity and encourage closer collaboration across the industry.