I’ve been around job sites since bell-bottoms were cool the first time. When a government man starts talking “unacceptable pace,” you can bet two things: the asphalt ain’t the only thing stalling, and somebody downstream is about to starve for cash. The Zaria–Sheme road is the latest reminder that schedules are wishes, but invoices are due on the first and fifteenth.
Concrete Pour, Empty Pockets
Mothercat Nigeria has good hands—Bello Goronyo, the junior works minister, said so himself. Trouble is, praise don’t pay for diesel. Progress crawled from seven percent last year to just seventeen now. That’s a ten-point bump in twelve months; my old hound moves faster when the vet’s in the driveway.
Meanwhile, prices for steel, bitumen, and the almighty dollar keep climbing. Project manager Ziad Karam told the minister straight: materials shot up, the naira sank, and right-of-way disputes still fence off kilometer nine. Every extra week on the calendar is another week subs, suppliers, and surveyors front their own dough.
The Float Ain’t Free
Big outfits like Mothercat can lean on bankers or parent firms. Smaller subs hauling laterite or guarding the barricades can’t. They finish a section, file a pay app, then wait 45–90 days for some clerk in Abuja to bless it. By then, their crews have moved on to the next gig—often on credit.
I’ve seen good Texas pavers go belly-up waiting on state highway money. Same story, different accent.
Invoice Like You Mean It
Here’s where a little gumption beats a line of credit. If you’re a freelancer or micro-contractor, stop typing invoices at midnight like it’s 1998. Talk to your phone instead. With Invoice Gini you literally say, “Bill Mothercat 3.2 million for earthworks, due net 30,” and the PDF lands in their inbox before you holler ‘coffee break.’ The AI tracks when they open it, pings them polite reminders, and flags late fees. You keep swinging the hammer; Gini chases the check.
Three Rules My Daddy Taught Me (and One I Added)
Bill early, bill often. Milestone payments beat one fat final invoice every time.
Paper is cheap, proof is gold. Photos, geotags, and sign-off sheets glued to the pay app silence arguments before they start.
Charge for float. If the contract says 30 days and they take 60, add interest. Put it in the fine print up front.
(My add) Automate or die. Spreadsheets don’t send themselves while you’re 50 miles from cell service.
Keep the Cash River Flowing
Goronyo warned the contractor: “Excuses won’t be tolerated.” Fair enough, but excuses are what bureaucrats do best. Your job is to make sure excuses don’t stall your rent.
- Factor your invoices if you must, but factor smart—never give up more than 5 %.
- Offer a 2 % discount for payment within five days; costs less than a loan.
- Split big contracts into smaller purchase orders so one disputed line can’t freeze the whole wad.
And for Pete’s sake, log every change order the same day. Memory fades faster than cheap paint on a guardrail.
A Word to the Minister (If He’s Listening)
Speed comes from cash, not lectures. Pay apps approved in seven days will do more for that 98-kilometer promise than any amount of yelling. Site controllers filing daily reports is fine, but a daily wire transfer beats a daily memo every time.
“Completion rose from seven per cent…to seventeen per cent currently,” Goronyo said. “Such progress fell short of government expectations.”
Short indeed. Ask any trucker bouncing through potholes on the old single lane: slow roads cost lives and livelihoods. They also cost the very contractors you’re brow-beating.
Bottom Line
Projects run on two rails: steel and cash. When one bends, the other better be rock solid. Whether you’re pouring concrete in Kaduna or mowing lawns in Katy, Texas, the fix is the same: get your invoice out fast, track it like a bloodhound, and don’t apologize for asking for your own money. Tools like Invoice Gini won’t lay asphalt, but they’ll keep your wallet from sinking into the mud.
Source: Minister orders contractor to speed up work on Zaria-Sheme road project