With the accession of late Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a new approach emerged on what the region could be like under a leadership that proposed an ambitious programme.
And a vision of what Abu Dhabi and the nine emirates of the Gulf — the UAE’s seven emirates plus Bahrain and Qatar — that gained their independence could look like, including on matters related to economic development.
These came at the right time as the region was experiencing profound fluctuations and was in need of a wise leader such as the Shaikh Zayed.
In less than two years after putting Abu Dhabi in order, he called for a meeting between leaders of the nine emirates in Abu Dhabi, to form a union that would be capable of defending the UAE, its stability and pave the way towards development.
Comprehensive programme
This clearly indicates that the Shaikh Zayed had in mind a comprehensive programme of what a modern country could be like on all levels as he was fully confident that if the nine emirates remained as they were, that would not offer a single guarantee for the desired stability and development.
This clearly proved to be the case later.
Undoubtedly, it was Shaikh Zayed’s complete faithfulness and dedication that brought the UAE to where it’s today, and its achieving great prosperity.
Unquestionably, this requires us to be loyal to Shaikh Zayed and anxious to build on his vision through further steps, at the forefront of which was the decision by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Shaikh Zayed.
This decision has certainly pleased everyone, especially the generations who lived during Shaikh Zayed’s period and learnt from him while following his achievements day after day, recognising his keen interests to place the UAE at the forefront of advanced countries and provide decent livelihoods for everyone.
Shaikh Zayed was very concerned with speeding up the building of cutting-edge infrastructure, which is the basis of all development.
He brought in multinationals and oversaw the implementation of development projects across the country, which included hundreds of schools, hospitals, electricity and water grids, road networks, ports and airports, forming a springboard for other projects in all sectors.
It goes without saying that economic diversity is one of Shaikh Zayed’s greatest achievement, where the composition of the GDP has been changed towards the dominance of the non-oil sector, a very significant achievement.
Shaikh Zayed had linked those rapid developments to the well-being of citizens, given his great belief that “Money not harnessed for serving the country and its people is not good”.
He instructed all institutions to facilitate education for citizens, ordered the establishment of the UAE University and paved the way for scholarships abroad, which were not limited for citizens only but also included all those living in the nine emirates even after the creation of the union, as he firmly believed in education and regional unity.
Prudence
This means that Shaikh Zayed paid great attention to improve the quality of his citizens to run their new country.
Politically, Shaikh Zayed’s vision was characterised by prudence in dealing with all changes. In spite of regional challenges and conflicts, he managed to write a new chapter of success and continued his development programmes without linking them to geopolitical changes.
This resulted in these programmes continuing in spite of ongoing wars and this is what makes Shaikh Zayed’s approach and leadership special — and one that is still effective and working.
And with these coinciding with deepening the state of the union, Shaikh Zayed wisely dealt with some tiny disparities that emerged at the beginning and carried the union to an advanced stage whereby the seven emirates shared common interests and a solid grounding in a way that they cannot be separated in anyway.
This means that Shaikh Zayed is the only Arab leader who created a strong, cohesive and integrated federation that can protect and defend its achievements.
These were supported by directives to build upon the foundations of the modern country in all domains such as culture, media, sports, social affairs and legislations that guarantee rights, including for local and foreign investors.
Legislation
Hundreds of laws were issued in a short period of time, most of which are still effective, while others were updated due to progress made by the UAE.
Meeting the requirements of a modern country back then was not easy and required a lot of development essentials.
No one can handle them as they need extraordinary efforts.
Yet this was done perfectly by Shaikh Zayed, ranking himself among the great founding fathers in the world and whose works would not be forgotten.
That’s why in the past, present and in the future, the UAE will not be mentioned without remembering its founding father and the maker of its renaissance, Shaikh Zayed Buin Sultan Al Nahyan”.
Hence, 2018 will be the year of loyalty for Shaikh Zayed, his achievements and to say together “Thank you, Zayed, you have left us a modern country, beautiful cities, educated people and leaders who follow on your footsteps.”
This is indeed a tip of an iceberg of the loyalty that Shaikh Zayed — The historical leader — deserves.
Dr Mohammad Al Asoomi is a UAE economic expert and specialist in economic and social development in the UAE and the GCC countries.
