Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has commended the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and their affiliate unions in the state for embracing dialogue over confrontation in resolving labour disputes, saying their approach has entrenched industrial peace across the state.

In a goodwill message to Rivers workers to mark this year’s Workers’ Day, Fubara said the relative calm in workplaces was a direct result of the maturity and restraint shown by organised labour. He urged labour leaders to keep faith with dialogue and ensure that industrial relations in the state remain constructive and forward-looking.

The governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Onwuka Nzeshi, expressed gratitude to employees in the Rivers State Civil Service for their role in sustaining governance and driving development, despite political tensions that have rocked the state in recent months.

He noted that civil servants had maintained peace and stability “despite political storms,” stressing that schools and hospitals remained open because workers chose “service over strife.” According to him, Rivers State “owes a debt of gratitude” to those who kept essential services running.

Fubara highlighted ongoing rehabilitation of the State Secretariat Complex, explaining that the project is designed to improve the work environment and boost efficiency and productivity in the civil service. He pledged that workers’ welfare would remain a central priority of his administration.

The governor also pointed to the regular payment of salaries and the clearing of pension arrears as evidence of his commitment to workers and retirees, assuring that “no senior citizen who served this state will be left behind.”

Painting a picture of the workforce that keeps the state functioning, Fubara saluted teachers in rural communities, nurses on night duty at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, engineers working under the sun on the Port Harcourt Ring Road, sanitation workers cleaning the streets before dawn, and farmers and artisans sustaining the local economy.

He urged workers to “keep being the difference,” insisting that every diligent effort, from a teacher in Etche to an engineer on the Degema–Port Harcourt corridor, contributes to the Rivers story. Acknowledging the rising cost of living and transport, Fubara said the resilience of the average worker is rooted in belief in the state, and promised that his government would not betray that trust.