…Kalu Solicits Media Support, Vow To Distribute 0ne Billion Litres Of Fuel This Year, Call For Online Subscriptions
By Andrew Utulu
The Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Vindi Petroleum, Victor Kalu, has called for support of the media, saying it was only way the government could be collectively supported.
Kalu averred that his company had been on a long journey trying to impact on the Nation’s economy positively.
He pointed out there is a wide difference between supporting and impacting.
“We want you to support us. There is a reason why we need your support. It is basically to help the government.
He noted that a lot of Nigerians who are into businesses require empowerment. And that only the government cannot do that.
Kalu made these assertions when visited the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) on Tuesday in Lagos.
He said that his organization needed to do something faster for the Nigerian economy which will impact positively and alleviate the challenges of the masses.
He said that they have solutions to most of the economic challenges in the country as they bother on fuel distribution and crises.
He recalled that late last year, the Independent Petroleum Marketers wrote a letter to the Federal Government stating their challenges and calling for a bail out.
Kalu said that about 10,000 of them were closing shops because they could no longer afford to lift PMS any longer.
He recalled that as at this time last year, a truck of PMS cost about N5 million.
“As we speak, you need about N50 million to lift a truck of fuel now.
“To have station fully serviced, you need two. Imagine you have five stations, you will be looking at about N500 million. And most people don’t have such funds.
“For us at Vindi Petrolueam, we have solutions to such problems. Our plan this year is to distribute one billion litres of fuel, and we are already on our way to do that through our platform, which we have already launched – fuelyapa.com. When we launched fuelyapa, the idea was to put for order of fuel online and people pick at various fuel station. . One of the achievements we made last year was to build the network. Right now, we have over 1,000 filling stations. That is the largest network petrol stations in Nigeria today.
“That is what we have achieved last year. But we realize that most stations still don’t have fuel, what we are doing now is to left people come and subscribe, so we can have the user-base that can help us negotiate the right amount of PMS and the right amount price to give out. So much of middle prices are making the price of fuel to go up. We are dealing directly with consumers and nobody has ever done that before. It is giving much leverage.”
He called on Nigerians subscribe online.
“We want all Nigerians to go online and subscribe, even the one you use at home, you can subscribe. We have another program called control peg and control peg is to order fuel in your homes, your offices, we have our people that can bring it to you. From our portal, we can also reserve. You can also order and go to anywhere in the country and pick up.
He said his company also distribute to stations in partnership with them. “If you are in existing station, we are calling on them to come and buy fuel from us. As long as you have the right structure, you have the right location, you have the right demand we can supply you fuel and manage the payment process and recover the money because we have our, cashiers in your station to manage that. We also want Nigerian to partner with us in another dimension. We have vessels of PMS, we can sell at reduced prices. If you order on line you will get N50 discount per litre. “
