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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
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