Music Historian, Isaac Daniel Counters Seun Kuti’s Assertion On Pioneer Of Anglican Church

Music is indeed spiritual and it either inspires towards a positive action or belief or towards negativity and attracting negative and evil spirit- albeit the spirit of religion.
This is the notion of accomplished Afrobeat musician and son of late Afrobeat creator, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Seun Kuti who claimed that his family started the Anglican Church in Nigeria.

The Grammy nominee, however, noted that despite his family’s role in promoting Christianity in Nigeria, he does not practice the religion but is a worshipper of ‘Juju’ instead.
Speaking in the latest episode of the Spill with Phyna podcast, Kuti advised other Africans to embrace African traditional religions and return to them.

He said, “It was my family that started Anglican side of Christianity in this country, if you look back at it. We are among the pioneers. So, we’ve been there, we’ve done that, and we’ve moved on. And we hope Africans can follow suit.

Seun Kuti’s great-grandfather and grandfather, Josiah Jesse Ransome-Kuti and Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti, respectively, were ministers in the Anglican church in the Nigerian colonial era.
But did his great father really pioneer or started the Anglican Church communion? Far from it according to a music historian and veteran journalist, Isaac Daniel who noted that though J.J Kuti, Seun’s great grandfather and Fela’s grandfather was a minister of the Anglican Church and in fact wrote a good number of Yoruba hymns from under what is now knows as the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).

“Seun Kuti indeed has distorted the facts just to persuade his listeners to toe the line of voodoo or juju or Obatala and other religions/ practices from the Yoruba tribe where he hails from.

“We all know that Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther who was freed from slavery at a coastal port by the Royal Navy’s West Africa Squadron, was the first African or Nigerian Bishop from the Anglican Church of Nigeria. According to Wikipedia,
Samuel Crowther (1809 – 31 December 1891), was a Yoruba linguist, clergyman, and the first African Anglican bishop of West Africa. So how could his great grandfather have started the Anglican Church?

“Ajayi Crowther prepared a Yoruba grammar and translation of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer into Yoruba, also working on a Yoruba version of the Bible, as well as other language projects. So how could J Ransome Kuti, who composed ‘Ise Oluwa … Kole Baje’ could have stayed the denomination? He was one of the early ministers no doubt, but not the founder or pioneer! But even if he pioneered the Anglican Church, is he saying the Church was flawed and the religion he practices now is better and more favourable to Nigerians? No! Everyone has a right to identify and worship the gods or God he believes in without any fear or fervor according to the Nigerian Constitution 1999 as amended.

Seun’s progenitor, Josiah Jesse “J.J.” Ransome-Kuti (born 1 June 1855 – 4 September 1930) was a Nigerian clergyman and music composer. He was known for setting Christian hymns to indigenous music, and for writing Christian hymns in Yoruba, according to Wikipedia.