Shaaban Robert ni dira na kurunzi katika Kiswahili

>Generations of students studied his epic novel Kusadikika, an allegorical work of an imaginary state in which injustices are perpetrated against all notions of justice, law and humanity.

Bila shaka Mtanzania yeyote ambaye amesoma shule ameshawahi kusikia jina la Sheikh Shaaban Robert. Hii ni kwa sababu amefahamika sana kutokana  na vitabu alivyoandika ambavyo vimekubaliwa na Wizara ya Elimu katika wakati tofauti kuwa ni vitabu vya kiada kwa somo la Kiswahili katika shule.

Shaaban ni maarufu, kwa wanalugha nchini, Alikuwa ni mrefu, mwembamba wa wastani, Na leo tunamsifu  mchango wake Shaabani Mungu amlaze pema, mahali pema peponi.  

Na Profesa Mbele
Jina la Shaaban Robert ni maarufu miongoni mwa wa-Tanzania na wengine wa nchi zingine wanaokijua ki-Swahili. Lakini, tujiulize ni wa-Tanzania wepi ambao wamesoma angalau vitabu vichache vya Shaaban Robert. 

Ni wangapi wamesoma au wanasoma mashairi yake, tenzi zake, insha zake, barua zake, na riwaya zake?
Ni wangapi wamesoma vitabu vyake vingine, kama vile Wasifu wa Siti Binti Saad, Maisha Yangu na Baada ya Miaka Hamsini, na tafsiri yake ya mashairi ya Omar Khayyam? Kama hatuna...

Tanzania na Afrika zina mashujaa wengi. Baadhi yao hawatajulikana kwa sababu habari zao hazikutangazwa. Walitenda mema wakaondoka zao. Wengine tunao humu mitaani na vijijini, wanafanya mazuri kimya kimya.

If Egypt’s great pyramid of Giza is one of the wonders of the world, the withdrawal of classics by Shabaan Robert like ‘Kusadikika’ and ‘Adili na Nduguze’ from the Kiswahili syllabi, is one of Tanzania’s most scandalous decisions.