Is Honesty The Best Policy?

I know, some of you already have your eyebrow raised as to why I choose to use those words for the title of this post but then I would really like to have an answer to that, is honesty really the best policy?

Of course our view towards this issue may vary based on the kind of people we meet and interact with. Recently, there was an unfortunate incident between two deadly cult groups which left one person dead. Of course the police arrived the scene after the perpetrators of the crimes were no longer there (as usual) and then they started asking questions. No one agreed to say anything to them because they knew how messed up the police were when it came to investigating.

They decided to leave when it became obvious that no one was going to talk, but just as they got into their van, a young man walked up to them and agreed to help with their investigation. He was going to tell them all he saw and they asked him to follow them to the station to write down a statement.

That was a few days ago. According to the news we are hearing now, the police has refused to let the young man go because they feel he might be part of those involved in the death of the other guy. Surprisingly, the story didn't come as a shock to most of us because we knew doing anything with the police was always at that person's risk. They can't be trusted and that is why most people call them legalized criminals.

So this whole scenerio got me thinking, is honesty always the best policy because that young man would have been in his house relaxing at this very moment if only he had chosen to lie to the police like the others did and tell them he saw nothing, but instead he chose to be honest and landed himself into trouble.

My friend said his dad would always tell him "When you're at home, make sure to always say the truth because we're your family, you don't lie to family. But when you're out there in the world where all sort of things happen, if you have to lie to stay safe, lie."

I know that might sound like a bad idea coming from a father, but if you look at it from the view of a Nigerian who's surrounded by so many bad people who are waiting to devour you just because you're honest, you will realize that the man was only trying to ensure his child stays safe.

Also, the younger generation are beginning to learn that truly honesty isn't always the best policy and that is sad because it's only encouraging them not to be honest but that is only because the corrupt ones (like the police officers) are giving them no choice.

_Unsplash