A Little White-Lie: Negotiating the Ethical Dilemma of Truth-Telling and Lying from an African Indigenous Religion Perspective

Truth-telling is a cherished religious value in most African societies as opposed to lying. Thus, African indigenous religion upholds the virtue of truth-telling and abhors the vice of lying. This accepted religious virtue is promoted through various means, including film. The film, A Little White-Lie pictures a chaste working-class lady who deceitfully arranges for marriage, a pseudo-spouse under intense parental pressure. As the plot gradually unfolds, the truth is revealed that the fiancé is a true exemplification of ‘a little white lie’. Nevertheless, the film ends in a happy marital union contrary to the punishment for vices from the Afrocentric baseline as the film seems to endorse the vice of lying. The paper examines the art of lying and its verisimilitude in Nigerian society by employing a qualitative survey as the research methodology. Data were collected using focus group discussions. Most participants affirm that any form of lying is wrong and unnecessary from a religious perspective; others contend that lying though wrong is justifiable under some existential conditions. More so, some participants hold that the film reflects the culture and traditions of the Nigerian society. In contrast, a few others view the film as a negation of the religious values of the society it portrays. The study recommends that Nigerian film producers should endeavour to run storylines that align with the normative values of society.