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On
6 August 1999, His Highness
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
completed 33 years as Ruler
of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi,
one of the seven emirates that
together comprise the Federation
of the United Arab Emirates
(UAE), of which he has also
been President since its creation
in December 1971. Having first
served in government in 1946
as Ruler's Representative in
Abu Dhabi's Eastern Region based
in the inland oasis of Al Ain,
Sheikh Zayed has now provided
leadership to the country for
well over half a century.
Born
around 1918 (the date is uncertain),
Sheikh Zayed is the youngest
of the four sons of Sheikh Sultan
bin Zayed, Ruler of Abu Dhabi
from 1922 to 1926. He was named
after his grandfather, Sheikh
Zayed bin Khalifa, who ruled
the emirate from 1855 to 1909,
the longest reign in the three
centuries since the Al Nahyan
family emerged as leaders of
the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Abu
Dhabi, like the other emirates
of the southern Arabian Gulf
known as the Trucial States,
was then in treaty relations
with Britain. At the time Sheikh
Zayed was born the emirate was
poor and undeveloped, with an
economy based primarily on fishing
and pearl diving along the coast
and offshore and on simple agriculture
in scattered oases inland.
Life,
even for a young member of the
ruling family, was simple. Education
was primarily confined to the
provision of instruction in
the principles of Islam from
the local preacher, while modern
facilities such as roads, communications
and health care were conspicuous
only by their absence. Transport
was by camel or by boat, and
the harshness of the arid climate
meant that survival itself was
often a major concern.
In
early 1928, following the death
of Sheikh Sultan's successor,
a family conclave selected as
Ruler Sheikh Shakhbut, Sultan's
eldest son, a post he was to
hold until August 1966 when
he stepped down in favour of
his brother Zayed.
During
the late 1920s and 1930s, as
Sheikh Zayed grew to manhood
he displayed an early thirst
for knowledge that took him
out into the desert with the
bedu tribesmen to learn all
he could about the way of life
of the people and the environment
in which they lived. He recalls
with pleasure his experience
of desert life and his initiation
into the sport of falconry,
which has been a lifelong passion.
In his book, Falconry: Our Arab
Heritage, published in 1977,
Sheikh Zayed noted that the
companionship of a hunting party:
...permits
each and every member of the
expedition to speak freely and
express his ideas and viewpoints
without inhibition and restraint,
and allows the one responsible
to acquaint himself with the
wishes of his people, to know
their problems and perceive
their views accurately, and
thus to be in a position to
help and improve their situation.
From
his desert journeys, Sheikh
Zayed learned to understand
the relationship between man
and his environment and in particular,
the need to ensure that sustainable
use was made of natural resources.
Once an avid shot, he abandoned
the gun for falconry at the
age of 25, aware that hunting
with a gun could lead rapidly
to extinction of the native
wildlife.
His
travels in the remoter areas
of Abu Dhabi provided Sheikh
Zayed with a deep understanding
both of the country and of its
people. In the early 1930s,
when the first oil company teams
arrived to carry out preliminary
surface geological surveys,
he was assigned by his brother
the task of guiding them around
the desert. At the same time
he obtained his first exposure
to the industry that was later
to have such a great effect
upon the country.
In
1946, Sheikh Zayed was chosen
to fill a vacancy as the Ruler's
Representative in the Eastern
Region of Abu Dhabi, centred
on the oasis of Al Ain, approximately
160 kilometres east of the island
of Abu Dhabi itself. Inhabited
continuously for at least 5,000
years, the oasis had nine villages,
six of which belonged to Abu
Dhabi, and three, including
Buraimi, by which name the oasis
was also known, belonged to
the Sultanate of Oman. The job
included the task of not only
administering the six villages,
but the whole of the adjacent
desert region, providing Sheikh
Zayed with an opportunity to
learn the techniques of government.
In the late 1940s and early
1950s when Saudi Arabia put
forward territorial claims to
Buraimi he also gained experience
of politics on a broader scale.
Sheikh
Zayed brought to his new task
a firm belief in the values
of consultation and consensus,
in contrast to confrontation.
Foreign visitors, such as the
British explorer Sir Wilfred
Thesiger, who first met him
at this time, noted with approbation
that his judgements 'were distinguished
by their astute insights, wisdom
and fairness'.
Sheikh
Zayed swiftly established himself
not only as someone who had
a clear vision of what he wished
to achieve for the people of
Al Ain, but also as someone
who led by example.
A
key task in the early years
in Al Ain was that of stimulating
the local economy, which was
largely based on agriculture.
To do this, he ensured that
the subterranean water channels,
or falajes (aflaj), were dredged
and personally financed the
construction of a new one, taking
part in the strenuous labour
that was involved.
He
also ordered a revision of local
water ownership rights to ensure
a more equitable distribution,
surrendering the rights of his
own family as an example to
others. The consequent expansion
of the area under cultivation
in turn generated more income
for the residents of Al Ain,
helping to re-establish the
oasis as a predominant economic
centre throughout a wide area.
With
development gradually beginning
to get under way, Sheikh Zayed
commenced the laying out of
a visionary city plan, and,
in a foretaste of the massive
afforestation programme of today,
he also ordered the planting
of ornamental trees that now,
grown to maturity, have made
Al Ain one of the greenest cities
in Arabia.
In
1953 Sheikh Zayed made his first
visit abroad, accompanying his
brother Shakhbut to Britain
and France. He recalled later
how impressed he had been by
the schools and hospitals he
visited, becoming determined
that his own people should have
the benefit of similar facilities:
There
were a lot of dreams I was dreaming
about our land catching up with
the modern world, but I was
not able to do anything because
I did not have the wherewithal
in my hands to achieve these
dreams. I was sure, however,
that one day they would become
true.
Despite
constraints through lack of
government revenues, Sheikh
Zayed succeeded in bringing
progress to Al Ain, establishing
the rudiments of an administrative
machinery, personally funding
the first modern school in the
emirate and coaxing relatives
and friends to contribute towards
small-scale development programmes.
However,
the export of Abu Dhabi’s
first cargo of crude oil to
the world market in 1962 was
to provide Sheikh Zayed with
the means to fund his dreams.
Although prices for crude oil
were then far lower than they
are today, the rapidly growing
volume of exports revolutionised
the economy of Abu Dhabi and
its people began to look forward
eagerly to some of the benefits
that were already being enjoyed
by their near-neighbours in
Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi
Arabia. The pearling industry
had finally come to an end shortly
after the Second World War,
and little had emerged to take
its place. Indeed, during the
late 1950s and early 1960s,
many of the people of Abu Dhabi
left for other oil-producing
Gulf states where there were
opportunities for employment.
The
economic hardships faced by
Abu Dhabi since the 1930s had
accustomed the Ruler, Sheikh
Shakhbut, to a cautious frugality.
Despite the growing aspirations
of his people for progress,
he was reluctant to invest the
new oil revenues in development.
Attempts by members of his family,
including Sheikh Zayed, and
by the leaders of the other
tribes in the emirate to persuade
him to move with the times were
unsuccessful, and eventually
the Al Nahyan family decided
that the time had come for him
to step down. The record of
Sheikh Zayed over the previous
20 years in Al Ain and his popularity
among the people made him the
obvious choice as successor.
On
6 August 1966 Sheikh Zayed became
Ruler, with a mandate from his
family to press ahead as fast
as possible with the development
of Abu Dhabi.
He
was a man in a hurry. His years
in Al Ain had not only given
him experience in government,
but had also provided him with
the time to develop a vision
of how the emirate could progress.
With revenues growing year by
year as oil production increased,
he was determined to use them
in the service of the people
and a massive programme of construction
of schools, housing, hospitals
and roads got rapidly under
way.
Of
his first few weeks as Ruler,
Sheikh Zayed has said:
All
the picture was prepared. It
was not a matter of fresh thinking,
but of simply putting into effect
the thoughts of years and years.
First I knew we had to concentrate
on Abu Dhabi and public welfare.
In short, we had to obey the
circumstances: the needs of
the people as a whole. Second,
I wanted to approach other emirates
to work with us. In harmony,
in some sort of federation,
we could follow the example
of other developing countries.
As
Abu Dhabi embarked on development,
Sheikh Zayed also turned his
attention rapidly to the building
of closer relations with the
other emirates:
'Federation
is the way to power, the way
to strength, the way to well-being,'
he felt. 'Lesser entities have
no standing in the world today,
and so has it ever been in history.'
One
early step was to increase contributions
to the Trucial States Development
Fund established a few years
earlier by the British; Abu
Dhabi soon became its largest
donor. At the beginning of 1968,
when the British announced their
intention of withdrawing from
the Arabian Gulf by the end
of 1971, Sheikh Zayed acted
swiftly to initiate moves towards
a closer relationship with the
other emirates.
Together
with the late Ruler of Dubai,
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum,
who was to become Vice-President
and Prime Minister of the UAE,
Sheikh Zayed took the lead in
calling for a federation that
would include not only the seven
emirates that together made
up the Trucial States, but also
Qatar and Bahrain. When early
hopes of a federation of nine
states eventually foundered,
with Qatar and Bahrain opting
to preserve their separate status,
Sheikh Zayed led his fellow
Rulers in agreement on the establishment
of the UAE, which formally emerged
on to the international stage
on 2 December 1971.
While
his enthusiasm for federation
- clearly displayed by his willingness
to spend the oil revenues of
Abu Dhabi on the development
of the other emirates - was
a key factor in the formation
of the UAE, Sheikh Zayed also
won support for the way in which
he sought consensus and agreement
among his brother Rulers:
I
am not imposing unity on anyone.
That is tyranny. All of us have
our opinions, and these opinions
can change. Sometimes we put
all opinions together, and then
extract from them a single point
of view. This is our democracy.
Sheikh
Zayed was elected by his fellow
Rulers as the first President
of the UAE, a post to which
he has been successively re-elected
at five-yearly intervals.
The
new state came into being at
a time of political turmoil
in the region. A couple of days
earlier, on the night of 30
November and early morning of
1 December, Iran had forcibly
and unlawfully seized the islands
of Abu Musa, part of Sharjah,
and Greater and Lesser Tunb.
On
land, demarcation of the borders
between the individual emirates
and its neighbours had not been
completed, although a preliminary
agreement had already been reached
between Abu Dhabi and Oman.
Foreign
observers, lacking an understanding
of the importance of a common
history and heritage in bringing
together the people of the UAE,
predicted that the new state
would survive only with difficulty,
pointing to disputes with its
neighbours and to the wide disparity
in the size, population and
level of development of the
seven emirates.
Better
informed about the nature of
the country, Sheikh Zayed was
naturally more optimistic. Looking
back a quarter of a century
later, he noted:
Our
experiment in federation, in
the first instance, arose from
a desire to increase the ties
that bind us, as well as from
the conviction of all that they
were part of one family, and
that they must gather together
under one leadership.
We
had never (previously) had an
experiment in federation, but
our proximity to each other
and the ties of blood relationships
between us are factors which
led us to believe that we must
establish a federation that
should compensate for the disunity
and fragmentation that earlier
prevailed.
That
which has been accomplished
has exceeded all our expectations,
and that, with the help of Allah
and a sincere will, confirms
that there is nothing that cannot
be achieved in the service of
the people if determination
is firm and intentions are sincere.
The
predictions of the pessimists
at the time of the formation
of the UAE have indeed been
clearly proven to be unfounded.
Over the course of the past
28 years, the UAE has not only
survived, but has developed
at a rate that is almost without
parallel. The country has been
utterly transformed. Its population
has risen from around 250,000
to a 1999 estimate of 2.94 million.
Progress, in terms of the provision
of social services, health and
education, as well as in sectors
such as communications and the
oil and non-oil economy, has
brought a high standard of living
that has spread throughout the
seven emirates, from the ultra-modern
cities to the remotest areas
of the desert and mountains.
The change has, moreover, taken
place against a backdrop of
enviable political and social
stability, despite the insecurity
and conflict that has dogged
much of the rest of the Gulf
region.
At
the same time, the country has
also established itself firmly
on the international scene,
both within the Gulf and Arab
region and in the broader community
of nations. Its pursuit of dialogue
and consensus and its firm adherence
to the tenets of the Charter
of the United Nations, in particular
those dealing with the principle
of non-interference in the affairs
of other states, have been coupled
with a quiet but extensive involvement
in the provision of development
assistance and humanitarian
aid that, in per capita terms,
has few parallels.
There
is no doubt that the experiment
in federation has been a success
and the undoubted key to the
achievements of the UAE has
been the central role played
by Sheikh Zayed.
During
his years in Al Ain, he was
able to develop a vision of
how the country should progress,
and, since becoming first Ruler
of Abu Dhabi, and then President
of the UAE, he has devoted more
than three decades into making
that vision a reality.
One
foundation of his philosophy
as a leader and statesman is
that the resources of the country
should be fully utilised to
the benefit of the people. The
UAE is fortunate to have been
blessed with massive reserves
of oil and gas and it is through
careful utilisation of these,
including the decision in 1973
that the Government should take
a controlling share of the oil
reserves and assume total ownership
of associated and non-associated
gas, that the financial resources
necessary to underpin the development
programme have always been available.
Indeed, there has been sufficient
to permit the Government to
set aside large amounts for
investment on behalf of future
generations and, through the
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
created by Sheikh Zayed, the
country now has reserves unofficially
estimated at around US $200
billion.
The
financial resources, however,
have always been regarded by
Sheikh Zayed not as a means
unto themselves, but as a tool
to facilitate the development
of what he believes to be the
real wealth of the country -
its people, and in particular
the younger generation:
Wealth
is not money. Wealth lies in
men. That is where true power
lies, the power that we value.
They are the shield behind which
we seek protection. This is
what has convinced us to direct
all our resources to building
the individual, and to using
the wealth with which God has
provided us in the service of
the nation, so that it may grow
and prosper. Unless wealth is
used in conjunction with knowledge
to plan for its use, and unless
there are enlightened intellects
to direct it, its fate is to
diminish and to disappear. The
greatest use that can be made
of wealth is to invest it in
creating generations of educated
and trained people.
Addressing
the graduation ceremony of the
first class of students from
the Emirates University in 1982,
Sheikh Zayed said:
The
building of mankind is difficult
and hard. It represents, however,
the real wealth [of the country].
This is not found in material
wealth. It is made up of men,
of children and of future generations.
It is this which constitutes
the real treasure. Within this
framework, Sheikh Zayed believes
that all of the country's citizens
have a role to play in its development.
Indeed
he defines it not simply as
a right, but a duty. Addressing
his colleagues in the Federal
Supreme Council, he noted:
The
most important of our duties
as Rulers is to raise the standard
of living of our people. To
carry out one's duty is a responsibility
given by Allah, and to follow
up on work is the responsibility
of everyone, both the old and
the young.
Both
men and women, he believes,
should play their part. Recognising
that in the past a lack of education
and development had prevented
women taking a full role in
much of the activity of society,
he has taken action to ensure
that this situation does not
continue.
Although
women's advocates might argue
that there is still much to
be done, the achievements have
been remarkable and the country's
women are now increasingly playing
their part in political and
economic life by taking up senior
positions in the public and
private sectors. In so doing,
they have enjoyed full support
from the President:
Women
have the right to work everywhere.
Islam affords to women their
rightful status, and encourages
them to work in all sectors,
as long as they are afforded
the appropriate respect. The
basic role of women is the upbringing
of children, but, over and above
that, we must offer opportunities
to a woman who chooses to perform
other functions. What women
have achieved in the Emirates
in only a short space of time
makes me both happy and content.
We sowed our seeds yesterday,
and today the fruit has already
begun to appear. We praise Allah
for the role that women play
in our society. It is clear
that this role is beneficial
for both present and future
generations.
Sheikh
Zayed has made it clear that
he believes that the younger
generation, those who have enjoyed
the fruits of the UAE's development
programme, must now take up
the burden once carried by their
parents. Within his immediate
family, Sheikh Zayed has ensured
that his sons have taken up
posts in government at which
they are expected to work and
not simply enjoy as sinecures.
Young UAE men who have complained
about the perceived lack of
employment opportunities at
an unrealistic salary level
have been offered positions
on farms as agricultural labourers,
so that they may learn the dignity
of work:
Work
is of great importance, and
of great value in building both
individuals and societies.The
size of a salary is not a measure
of the worth of an individual.
What is important is an individual's
sense of dignity and self-respect.
It is my duty as the leader
of the young people of this
country to encourage them to
work and to exert themselves
in order to raise their own
standards and to be of service
to the country. The individual
who is healthy and of a sound
mind and body but who does not
work commits a crime against
himself and against society.
We
look forward to seeing in the
future our sons and daughters
playing a more active role,
broadening their participation
in the process of development
and shouldering their share
of the responsibilities, especially
in the private sector, so as
to lay the foundations for the
success of this participation
and effectiveness. At the same
time, we are greatly concerned
to raise the standing and dignity
of the work ethic in our society,
and to increase the percentage
of citizens in the labour force.
This can be achieved by following
a realistic and well-planned
approach that will improve performance
and productivity, moving towards
the long-term goal of secure
and comprehensive development.
In
this sphere, as in other areas,
Sheikh Zayed has long been concerned
about the possible adverse impact
upon the younger generation
of the easy life they enjoy,
so far removed from the resilient,
resourceful lifestyle of their
parents. One key feature of
Sheikh Zayed's strategy of government,
therefore, has been the encouragement
of initiatives designed to conserve
and cherish aspects of the traditional
culture of the people, in order
to familiarise the younger generation
with the ways of their ancestors.
In his view, it is of crucial
importance that the lessons
and heritage of the past are
not forgotten. They provide,
he believes, an essential foundation
upon which real progress can
be achieved:
History
is a continuous chain of events.
The present is only an extension
of the past. He who does not
know his past cannot make the
best of his present and future,
for it is from the past that
we learn. We gain experience
and we take advantage of the
lessons and results [of the
past]. Then we adopt the best
and that which suits our present
needs, while avoiding the mistakes
made by our fathers and our
grandfathers. The new generation
should have a proper appreciation
of the role played by their
forefathers. They should adopt
their model, and the supreme
ideal of patience, fortitude,
hard work and dedication to
doing their duty.
Once
believed to have been little
more than an insignificant backwater
in the history of mankind in
the Middle East, the UAE has
emerged in recent years as a
country which has played a crucial
role in the development of civilisation
in the region for thousands
of years.
The
first archaeological excavations
in the UAE took place 40 years
ago, in 1959, with the archaeologists
benefiting extensively from
the interest shown in their
work by Sheikh Zayed. Indeed
he himself invited them to visit
the Al Ain area to examine remains
in and around the oasis that
proved to be some of the most
important ever found in southeastern
Arabia. In the decades that
have followed, Sheikh Zayed
has continued to support archaeological
studies throughout the country,
eager to ensure that knowledge
of the achievements of the past
becomes available to educate
and inspire the people of today.
Appropriately,
one of the most important archaeological
sites has been discovered on
Abu Dhabi's western island of
Sir Bani Yas, which for more
than 20 years has been a private
wildlife reserve created by
Sheikh Zayed to ensure the survival
of some of Arabia's most endangered
species.
If
the heritage of the people of
the UAE is important to Sheikh
Zayed, so too is the conservation
of its natural environment and
wildlife. After all, he believes
the strength of character of
the Emirati people derives,
in part, from the struggle that
they were obliged to wage in
order to survive in the harsh
and arid local environment.
His
belief in conservation of the
environment owes nothing to
modern fashion. Acknowledged
by the presentation of the prestigious
Gold Panda Award from the Worldwide
Fund for Nature, it derives,
instead, from his own upbringing,
living in harmony with nature.
This has led him to ensure that
conservation of wildlife and
the environment is a key part
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