Sheikh Zayeds Philosophies as a Leader - Essay Example

 Understanding UAE is impossible without comprehending the life of Sheikh Zayed his vision, determination, deep religious faith, hard work, his generosity both at home and abroad, as well as his devotion to service of his people and development of a better world. In 1946, he became rulers’ representative in Eastern part of Abu Dhabi who was brought together by the oasis of Al Ain, with his job being administration of six villages as well as adjacent desert region. At the end 1940s and with the onset of 1950, Zayed managed to establish a vision that he needed to accomplish for citizens of Al Ain. In spite of the few government revenues, Zayed succeeded in conveying development to Al Ain through establishing basic administration, personally backing the first contemporary school within the emirate and persuading relatives as well as friends to give to small-scale development. Sheikh Zayed went on to revise local water ownership rights in order to ensure equitable distribution, which resulted in agricultural development and managed to re-establish the oasis as the dominant market centre. Through his planning, Sheikh Zayed helped ensure Al Ain remained green, which remains to be the case up to now since the city is considered one of the greenest in Arabia. In august of 1966, Sheikh Zayed emerged as leader of Abu Dhabi, with only one mandate of developing the emirate as swift as possible because his years in Al Ain offered him valuable experience in government as well as time for developing a vision of progress. With the first export of Abu Dhabi back in 1962, Sheikh could depend on oil revenue in serving his people and in massive construction programs for schools, hospitals, housing and roads. After the British announced their intention of retreating from the Arabian Gulf by the end of 1971, Zayed and other Sheikhs in the region called for a federation, which eventually ended in seven states following Sheikh Zayed in the establishment of UAE. UAE formally emerged in December 1971 and even though Sheikh Zayed’s enthusiasm was that the federation would be essential in the creation of UAE, Zayed gained support because of the manner in which he sought consent and agreement from fellow rulers. Sheikh Zayed became the initial president of UAE after fellow rulers selected him, a position he was later re-elected after five-year interval (Davidson, 2011; UAE Embassy, 2012). One of Sheikh Zayed’s philosophies as a leader was that resources of a nation should fully be utilized to promote the citizens including women in UAE who gained from his vision in education, equality and employment. Sheikh Zayed in governing the nation, he drew from Arabian traditions of consensus and consultation where at informal level the principle was practiced in institutions where leaders held “open-house” forums that allowed an individual to put forward views for considerations. Moreover, Sheikh Zayed was critical in the conservation of the environment and wildlife because he considered the character of Emirati people partly derived from struggles in the harsh environment thus devoted he was to safeguarding the environment (General Books LLC, 2010). Sheikh Zayed in his years in Al Ain, suddenly was established as an individual who had vision for the citizens of Al Ain and as a person who led from the front. His early years in Al Ain were tasked with stimulating the local economy, which largely relied on agriculture, and to achieve this he ensured that subterranean water channels were cleaned out and personally financed construction of new ones, in which he was involved in the strenuous labour. Moreover, after Sheikh Zayed became the leader of Abu Dhabi and with the ever-increasing revenue from oil, he was determined to use the revenue in service of his people. The unspent oil exploration rents that accumulated under Sheikh Zayed but had been considerable; however, by the time Zayed took office Abu Dhabi revenues had increased dramatically (Russell, 2007). Alongside building up Abu Dhabi’s economic base as well as setting up basic welfare state, it was crucial for Sheikh Zayed to begin distributing directly at least a portion of oil revenue to indigenous population. Many subjects under him endured decades of recession and deserved to reap rewards of their wealth and Zayed’s personal conviction, which sought to improve drastically the daily lives of the citizens. Underpinning wealth distribution and considerable boost of the population’s prosperity was the removal of every form of taxation, which to this point Abu Dhabi’s residents had several tax burdens like those imposed on agricultural activities. Buoyed by many positive developments, within a few years of Zayed’s succession, Abu Dhabi has managed to reverse its reputation of backwardness as it had been during his grandfather’s reign. Keen with boosting Abu Dhabi’s population and repair the damage already done by his predecessors, Sheikh Zayed sent personal invitations to tribes that were most likely to accept. At the helm of strengthening the federation, Abu Dhabi became powered to twenty-first century by the increased oil revenue and well established petrochemical industries (Abed, Casey-vine and Al Jabali, 1996; Utaiba, 1982). The creation of UAE came at a time when there was political turmoil in the region because days prior to the creation of UAE, Iran had seized islands of Greater and Lesser Tunb and it had landed troops on Abu Musa. Zayed’s basic vision was assisting those less fortunate, which was crucial in developing the nation and its people. He believed in goodwill and duty incumbent on the strong, which was a key policy in UAE that he devised and guided since establishment of the state up to the death of Sheikh Zayed. Under Sheikh Zayed’s leadership, UAE a nation that began as a loose collection of emirates became one of the world’s wealthiest nations and secured reputation for stability and remains as an exemplary example in the Middle East. UAE has been able to progress because of the way its components have successfully been able to come together in a relationship of harmony and working together toward a common goal, which was initiated by Sheikh Zayed. Prosperity in UAE is widely considered an indication of Sheikh Zayed’s wisdom, devotion and skill to serving his state (Al Abed, Hellyer and Vine, 2005). All emirates immediately after the formation of UAE were keenly aware that a UAE without Zayed was unimaginable because the lack of Abu Dhabi’s bankrolling of the federal budget, the federation could not survive. Thus, after months of negotiations between Zayed and other leaders the result was an agreement that allowed Dubai to increase its budgetary contributions in exchange for Zayed’s keeping of the constitution in a temporary state for additional five years. The period between 1980s and 1990s afforded Sheikh Zayed no opportunity of breaking the deadlock among the emirates since each emirate pursued its objectives and eventually they lacked basic federal coordination over building of physical and financial infrastructure (Oxford Business Group, 2010). In conclusion, Al Ain has managed to maintain strong heritage due to the regulations passed by late Sheikh Zayed, the founder of UAE to ensure that the city retains its traditional architecture and Arabian charm. Sheikh Zayed the ruler of Abu Dhabi led efforts for unification of the UAE at the time who later became the first president of UAE and managed to make the nation among the wealthiest in the world. Through desert experience in Al Ain, Sheikh Zayed was able to learn techniques of governing and gained experience in leadership as well he gained deep knowledge on tribes. Therefore, his travels to remote areas of Abu Dhabi provided Sheikh Zayed with a deep understanding of the nation and its people and in return, he obtained first hand exposure, which later influenced the country greatly. References Abed, I., Casey-Vine, P., & Al Jabali, A. (1996). Chronicle of progress. London, Trident Press. Al Abed I., Hellyer P & Vine P. (2005). United Arab Emirates yearbook 2005. London, Trident Press. Davidson, M. C. (2011). Abu dhabi: oil and beyond. London, C Hurst & Co Publishers. General Books LLC. (2010). Presidents of the united arab emirates. [S.l.], General Books Oxford Business Group. (2010). The Report: Abu Dhabi 2010. Oxford Business Group. Russell, M. B. (2007). The Middle East and South Asia, 2007. Harpers Ferry, WV, Stryker-Post Publications. UAE Embassy. (2012). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Founder of UAE. [Online] Available at: http://www.uae-embassy.org/uae/history/sheikh-zayed accessed [27/06/2013] Utaiba, M. S. A. (1982). Essays on petroleum. London [u.a.], Croom Helm. Read More