The Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board (LASTVEB) has entered into an industrial training partnership with Lighthouse Group, a food preservation company based in Ketu, Lagos, to provide students and artisans with practical experience in the cooling sector.
The agreement followed a training visit by technicians on the LASTVEB Artisans Upskilling Programme, which led to a new placement arrangement for SIWES and refrigeration students.
The artisans, who are on the board’s Artisans Upskilling Programme, a special training scheme held on 2 September 2026, are experienced technicians who already repair fridges and freezers for home and businesses.
The programme helped tradesmen and artisans across Lagos State gain the skills to take on more technical, better-paid work.
The participants, led by Okunbanjo Bolaji of LASTVEB, were taken to Ketu to see commercial refrigeration in action and to connect what they learned in the classroom with equipment that runs every day to keep food safe.
They were received by General Manager Kemi Adesina; Facility Manager Funsho Odumade; the company’s engineer, Oladapo Olawale; and the company’s Head of Labour.
Adesina opened the session with the story of Lighthouse: how the company has spent years preserving food for traders and producers, and how it has moved beyond cold storage into drying, which keeps production for months and allows it to travel to markets far from the farm. The visitors were given samples of the company’s products.
Odumade then walked participants through the site’s safety rules and led them around the working areas. Olawale explained the refrigeration equipment in use, how it is operated and maintained, and answered their questions in a lively, practical session.
At the close of the visit, LASTVEB asked whether Lighthouse Group would also take students on the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), as well as students who have studied refrigeration, air conditioning and related subjects.
Adesina agreed on behalf of the company, saying that Lighthouse is open to working with the state and that its trainees and students are welcome whenever they are ready to come.
LASTVEB has since written to the company. In a letter from the Director of the board’s Partnership Unit, Olawale Oluwo, LASTVEB expressed appreciation for Lighthouse Group’s willingness to share its expertise and open its facilities to the programme.
Nigeria loses a large share of the fruit, vegetables and grain it grows before they reach a market, much of it for want of cooling and drying. Every cold room, chiller and drying line depends on technicians who can install, repair and maintain it.
Lighthouse Group sees training that workforce as part of its own work on food security, and as a natural role for a private company working alongside the state.
