<P> Within the Aden Colony there were three local government bodies . The Aden municipality, which covered the town, Tawali, Ma'alla and Crater, the Township authority of Sheikh Othman and finally Little Aden had been established in recent years as a separate body, covering the oil refinery and the workers' settlement . All of these bodies were under the overall control of the Executive Council, which in turn was kept in check by the Governor . </P> <P> Until 1 December 1955, the Executive Council was entirely unelected . The situation improved only slightly after this date, as four members were elected . Judicial administration was also entirely in British hands . "Compared with other British possessions, the development towards self - government and greater local participation has been rather slow". </P> <P> Education was provided for all children, both boys and girls, until at least intermediate level . Higher education was available on a selective basis through scholarships to study abroad . Primary and Intermediate education was conducted in Arabic while Secondary and independent schools conducted their lessons in Arabic, English, Urdu, Hebrew and Gujarati . There were also Quranic schools for both boys and girls, but these were unrecognised . </P> <P> After 1937, the economy of Aden continued to be largely dependent on the city's role as an entrepôt for East - West trade . During the course of 1955, 5239 vessels called at Aden, making its harbour the second busiest in the world after New York . However, tourism declined over the last years of the Colony with the number of tourists landing dropping by 37% from 204,000 in 1952 to 128,420 in 1966 . At the end of British rule in 1967, the main revenues of the Colony were the Port Trust with an annual gross revenue of £ 1.75 million (2014 prices: £ 28.4 million) and the British Petroleum refinery which made direct payments to the Aden Government of £ 1.135 million (2014 prices: £ 18.4 million). </P>

What was the war in aden all about