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 majibu ya kuridhisha, tuache kujigamba, kujidanganya na kudanganyana kuwa tunamwenzi mwandishi wetu huyu maarufu.
Inasikitisha kama watoto wetu hawatawakumbuka watanzania kama hawa.Nionavyo mimi ingesaidia kama wizara ya elimu ingeviweka vitabu hivi kama "set books"kwenye shule. Umewataja hayati Shaaban Roberts na Siti bint Saad.Mimi bi nafsi nawakumbuka,(shows my age) Siti came to our house in Mwembetanga when I was a kid na Shaaban Roberts came to Makerere when I was a student there.
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