Sheikh Zayed anniversary: 22 years on, the milestones of a founder
Today, 2 November, marks the 22nd anniversary of the passing of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, founder and first President of the United Arab Emirates, whose death was announced on 2 November 2004, corresponding to 19 Ramadan 1425 AH, at the age of 86.
His official biography traces a path that began in Al Ain. Born in 1918, he served from 1946 to 1966 as the Ruler of Abu Dhabi's Representative in the city, where he launched projects to dig falaj irrigation channels, supported oil exploration and protected the environmental balance. He founded the first school in Al Muwaiji in 1956, followed in 1959 by Al Nahyaniya School, the first formal school in Al Ain.
After he became Ruler of Abu Dhabi in 1966, he took decisions that still shape the national economy. On his instructions Abu Dhabi joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1967 and the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) in 1970. He then approved the founding of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the country's first national oil company, and the creation of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to manage the emirate's investments.
The defining milestone was the union. In 1968 he signed the first union agreement between Abu Dhabi and Dubai with the late Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, then Ruler of Dubai, at Al Sameeh. On 2 December 1971 the United Arab Emirates was proclaimed and he was elected its President; the same year the country joined the Arab League and the United Nations. In 1981 Abu Dhabi hosted the first summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council, where the council's charter was signed, and he appointed the country's first woman minister.
The UAE officially commemorates his passing every year on 19 Ramadan as Zayed Humanitarian Work Day, and the country recently declared 7 January Zayed the Founder Day, an annual national occasion. The Gregorian date, 2 November, remains a day on which citizens and residents recall the founder's life each year.
Al Majlis Analysis: What stands out is that the country does not reduce its founder's legacy to a single day of mourning. It spreads it across three occasions, each with its own meaning: a humanitarian day in Ramadan, a Founder Day in January and a popular remembrance in November. This year the date also coincides with the opening in the capital of ADIPEC, hosted by the national oil company whose creation Sheikh Zayed approved more than five decades ago. The overlap makes a simple point: the decisions taken in the 1960s and 1970s, from joining OPEC to building investment and education institutions, remain the ground the country stands on today, which is why recalling these documented milestones says more than any eulogy.