I recently came across a quote attributed to Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti. I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about him before seeing the post. But the quote immediately caught my attention.

He talked about outsiders coming in, things beginning to disappear first small things, then “petroleum,” “diamonds” and “people.” Before ending, he spoke with the provocative line that they left behind “Gonorrhea and Jesus.” If you are a Christian, you might read that last part and immediately feel uncomfortable.

Was Fela Kuti attacking Jesus? Was he saying Christianity was something bad that Europeans brought to Africa?

Before interpreting the quote that way, however, we have to understand the history behind what he was saying.

And that history is much bigger than one sentence.

Who Was Fela Kuti?

Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti was a Nigerian musician, political activist and one of the pioneers of Afrobeat. He became internationally known not only for his music but also for openly criticizing corruption, oppression, colonialism and the political systems that continued to affect African people after colonial rule. His words were often intentionally provocative.

So, when Fela spoke about Europeans coming into Africa and taking petroleum, diamonds and people, he wasn’t simply making a joke. Rather, he was pointing toward a long history of extraction. He meant the removal of African resources, wealth, labor and human beings.

The reference to “Jesus” needs to be understood within that same context.

Christianity Did Not Begin in Europe

This is where many of us including many Christians were never taught the complete history. Christianity is not originally a European religion. Jesus was born in the Middle East. Christianity emerged in the first century in the eastern Mediterranean and spread into Africa remarkably early.

Africa would become home to some of the earliest and most influential Christian communities in the world. Christianity flourished in Egypt and North Africa, while ancient Nubian kingdoms later became Christian. The Kingdom of Aksum, centered in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea, officially embraced Christianity in the fourth century. That matters. Because centuries later, European colonial powers would enter parts of Africa presenting Christianity as though they were introducing Africans to something that belonged to Europe. They weren’t. Africa already had an ancient Christian history.

Africans Had Religion Before European Colonization

There is another misconception worth clearing up. African people were not spiritually empty people waiting for Europeans to introduce the concept of God, faith or religion. Africa contained and still contains an enormous diversity of peoples, cultures and spiritual traditions. Different African societies had their own understandings of a Creator, ancestors, morality, the spiritual world, community and the relationship between human beings and the divine. Likewise, Europeans had religious traditions before Christianity reached Europe. For example, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Celts, Germanic peoples, Norse peoples and others practiced their own religions.

So the history isn’t as simple as “Europeans stole Christianity from Africans.”

Christianity emerged in the Middle East and developed very early in Africa as well as other parts of the ancient Mediterranean world. Christianity cannot historically be reduced to “the white man’s religion.”

So What Was Fela Kuti Talking About?

This is where colonialism becomes important. Centuries after Christianity was already established in both Africa and Europe, European colonial powers frequently used Christian missionary activity and Christian rhetoric alongside imperial expansion. Biblical ideas were sometimes manipulated to justify slavery, racial hierarchy, forced cultural assimilation and colonial authority. So yes, Christianity was weaponized in parts of the European colonial project. That does not mean the teachings of Jesus created colonialism.

It means people were capable of taking a religion whose central teachings include love, mercy, justice and care for others and using selected interpretations of Scripture to support systems that often contradicted those very principles. Furthermore, there is a major historical irony here:

Christianity was not something Europeans simply introduced to a previously non-Christian Africa.

African Christianity has ancient roots. Ethiopia, Egypt, Nubia and North Africa all have Christian histories stretching back many centuries before the European scramble for Africa. That distinction actually makes the history more powerful:

Christianity ≠ European religion.

European colonialism later presented particular European expressions of Christianity as part of a so-called “civilizing” mission. However, Christianity’s history is much older, broader and more culturally diverse than colonial Europe.

The Bible Was Used to Justify Slavery but Also to Fight It

This complicated history also helps explain something that can be confusing when we talk about Black history. Christianity was used by some enslavers and colonial authorities as a tool of control. Certain biblical passages were emphasized to encourage obedience, while other messages particularly those concerning liberation, equality and justice could be minimized. However, Christianity also became a powerful source of resistance.

Enslaved Black people interpreted biblical stories through their own experiences. The Exodus story of an oppressed people being delivered from bondage carried an entirely different meaning when heard by people who were themselves enslaved. Later, Black churches became central institutions in Black American communities. Eventually, these churches played major roles in abolition, education, community organizing and the Civil Rights Movement.

So, Christianity’s place in Black history cannot honestly be reduced to either “the religion of the oppressor” or “the religion that saved the oppressed.” The history contains both oppression and resistance. Understanding who was using Christianity, how they were using it and for what purpose makes a tremendous difference.

Sometimes We Have to Look Beyond the Quote

That’s what this Fela Kuti quote made me do. At first glance, seeing “Jesus” placed beside disease and colonial exploitation can make the statement appear to be an attack on Christianity.

Understanding Black and African history requires us to look beyond a meme, a quote or a single sentence. Fela’s larger criticism was directed toward colonialism, exploitation and what European powers took from African societies while claiming to bring civilization and Christianity to them. You don’t have to agree with every word he chose or with all of Fela Kuti’s personal beliefs to understand the historical criticism behind the statement. Understanding that distinction is important.

Black History Is Bigger Than What Many of Us Were Taught

One of the most interesting things about studying Black history is discovering how much of the story was condensed, simplified or completely left out of what many of us learned growing up. Africa’s history did not begin with slavery. African spirituality did not begin with European missionaries. African Christianity did not begin with European colonization. And Christianity itself did not begin in Europe.

Understanding those facts doesn’t require someone to abandon Christianity. For Christians, learning this history can actually provide a much broader understanding of how ancient, multicultural and geographically diverse the Christian faith has always been. Fela Kuti’s words were provocative. However, perhaps that’s exactly why they are worth examining.

Sometimes a statement that makes us uncomfortable can become an invitation to learn the history behind it. Once we understand that history, we may realize the conversation was never as simple as Christianity versus Africa. The deeper conversation is about faith, power, colonialism, culture and what happens when human beings use religion to justify things the religion itself may not justify.