SHIT DOES NOT NEED any polishing, it is shit, a waste product, stinking, repulsive and to be discarded. A hole on the other hand is an opening in the ground and could be plain and with definite use, or it could be a death trap.  Combining shit and hole leads one to a double tragedy. Shitholes are bad.

The plain truth is that wherever you have a community of humans, you must have shitholes, they may be beautifully decorated or just holes with shit, whatever the case, they are still shitholes. There are many shitholes around us, while some have tapped into shitholes to pipe out trapped gases, others continue to dig more holes and dump more shits with the intent on tapping into their inert potentials. Should this be allowed to continue, these dreadful shitholes will become sinkholes and swallow us all. How do we avoid this?

Shits are ours, we made them. Shitholes are where we try to hide the waste, there is therefore, no doubt that we know shitholes. Why are we incensed when one is pointed out to us? Maybe we have grown too used to living in a hole that we do not know the difference between a hole in the dirt and a shithole. A shithole is expectedly unlivable, but we have mastered the art of surviving in one called Nigeria. No wonder we do not grasp the gravity of the malaise until it is pointed out to us.

A shithole has become a synonym for countries lacking basic amenities of life such as good pipe borne water, stable electricity, accessible health care and functional security outfit. In shithole countries, the powerful hold on to the rein of life at all cost. Security personnel serve only the rich and powerful and the poor are marginalized and doubly oppressed. In shithole countries, there is no hope for the poor and the only chance to make a better life for one self is to recognize that one is living in a shithole and get out.

A shithole is characterized by lackluster environment, with little or no job opportunity, a situation caused by inept government and clueless leaders. Shithole leaders live for the present moment, their only aspiration is to acquire and horde, even if they do not know what to do with the treasure, yes, what do you do with treasures hidden in a shithole? Shithole countries plant crops and export them out only to import them as special goods. Shitholes frustrate their citizens and drive them to despair. Shithole leaders embezzle public funds and go free. Shithole countries hardly produces anything and consume anything and everything, sometimes even recklessly. Shithole countries are destined to be poor.

In Shithole countries, the police force is feared and never respected. The police extort money under any and every pretext and there is hardly anything anyone can do. Police officers in shithole countries have become perfectly identifiable as shit and one’s only reasonable step is to avoid every hole, lest it turns out to be a shithole, manned by shithole officers, barking shit-orders and threatening you with shit. Shithole countries are relics of ancient past we wish to forget but keep haunting our blissful moments. Shithole countries are a threat to the good life, a threat to development and sanity, a threat to longevity and meaningful existence. Those who have recognized these traits and are able have gotten out it, charting a new course, those unable live in hope of finding a hole in fence to escape from the shit in the hole.

In Shithole countries, the laws are meant for the weak and poor, hence justice is often away on vacation. In Shithole countries, criminals are celebrated and criminality exalted. In shithole countries,challenging work does not pay. Shithole countries are open market where all comers are takers and they milk the cow dry with no repercussions.

All said and done, Shitholes are nasty, obnoxious, repulsive and to be avoided at all cost.  We know this and would easily run away as we are not at the same time held bound by some uncanny fascination with Shitholes sinkholes. Then, it gets bad with another Shithole creating his own shits tells you are living in a shithole and should not come and pollute his shithole. This is pathetic, terribly pathetic and the only way out is to get rid of Shitholes, including the one I am living in. After all, there was once a country. Alas, all that is left now is a shithole!

omoascend@yahoo.com