Dubai: “We have lived through ten years of deep wisdom, ten years of clear vision, fast development and great achievement. Today we mark ten years of the presidency of President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” said His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Shaikh Mohammad issued the statement on Sunday on the occasion of UAE Flag Day, and the tenth anniversary of the presidency of Shaikh Khalifa, being marked in the UAE on November 3.
In his statement, Shaikh Mohammad said: “The impact of Shaikh Khalifa’s decade cannot be measured by statistics or international reports. It cannot be counted by the numbers of people enriched by his projects, or by the size of the budgets that he dedicated to improving life in the UAE.
“It would be unfair to judge those ten years only by counting the Emiratis whose houses he built, or whose medical treatment he personally funded. We will not evaluate this decade by the number of Emiratis in financial trouble whose debts he repaid, or by the expanse of land he developed, or by the scale of his investments in infrastructure, or by the number of dams and bridges constructed during his presidency.
“It would be unfair to measure those ten years only by the aid he extended to other nations, or by the crises he mitigated in other nations, or by the numbers of refugees he sheltered, or by any other metric that we might imagine. Because ten years of Khalifa Bin Zayed’s rule and wisdom are much bigger than numbers can convey.
“I personally believe that the impact of Khalifa’s decade should be counted in the number of hearts he has won over, by the number of prayers sent to Allah to guard and protect him, and by the love that has naturally grown for him, without ever being sought.
“I prefer to measure Khalifa’s ten years by the amount of happiness that he has infused in people’s hearts, at home and abroad. I measure it by the laughter of the orphaned children whom he has sponsored. I measure it by the prayers of widowed mothers in families who have lost their provider, but found a livelihood through Khalifa’s generosity. I measure Khalifa’s years by the magnitude of change that he has brought to millions of lives around the globe.
“I measure Khalifa’s years by the gleams of joy that I see in the eyes of our young graduates. I measure them by the intensity of pride that I sense in our young Emirati women. I measure them by the feelings of trust shining through from our engineers and doctors who have graduated from the best universities. I measure them by the feelings of loyalty that are in the air everywhere in our country. I measure them by the daily expressions of gratitude from Emiratis for their leader, who has always worked relentlessly to make his people the happiest in the world.
“This is the true legacy of Shaikh Khalifa. These are the main lessons that other leaders may draw from ten years of his presidency. It is easy to rule through fear, but it takes a rare leader to rule through love.
“May Allah guard Khalifa Bin Zayed for the UAE, and may Allah guard the UAE people for Khalifa Bin Zayed.”
