Jubril Martins-Kuye (16 August 1942 – 17 January 2021) was a Nigerian politician. After studying in Nigeria and the United States he qualified as an accountant before entering politics. Martins-Kuye was originally a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

and served as a senator. He joined the

United Nigeria Congress Party The United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) was a Nigerian political party. It was one of the five state-sanctioned political parties allowed by the government of General Sani Abacha to participate in state assembly elections held in December 1997, in ...

(UNCP) towards the end of the

Sani Abacha Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...

regime. After unsuccessfully standing as the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

candidate for governor of

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Ogun State borders Lagos State to the south, Oyo State and Osun State to the north, Ondo State to the east, and the Republic of Benin to the ...

in 1999 he was appointed minister of state for finance by President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

, a position he held until 2003. In 2010 he became minister of commerce and industry in the cabinet of Acting President

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

, holding office until 2011.

Early career

Martins-Kuye was born on 16 August 1942 in

Ago Iwoye Ago-Iwoye is a city in Ogun, Nigeria and formerly of the now-defunct Ijebu Kingdom. It is located in the Ijebu North Local Governmental Area and the main town comprises seven contiguous districts: Ibipe (considered the leading settlement), Isamu ...

, Ijebu constituency of

, he has a brother (Muraino Ademola Kuye). He studied sociology at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 196 ...

(1965–1968) and then Economics at the

Harvard University Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

, graduating in 1983. Martins-Kuye afterwards qualified as a Chartered Accountant. Martins-Kuye was a member of the

(SDP) and was a senator in the

Nigerian Third Republic The Third Republic was the planned republican government of Nigeria in 1993 which was to be governed by the Third Republican constitution. Founded (1993) The constitution of the Third Republic was drafted in 1989. General Ibrahim Badamasi B ...

Obasanjo and Yar'Adua presidencies

Martins-Kuye became a member of the

(UNCP) towards the end of the

regime. He was a candidate on the

(PDP) platform for governor of

in 1999, but did not win. Martins-Kuye was appointed Minister of State for Finance in June 1999 during the first term of President

, serving until June 2003. During his tenure, the

Savannah Bank The Savannah Bank is a Nigerian bank whose license was withdrawn in February 2002 and restored in February 2009 after protracted legal battles. An investor, International Resource Associates of London, bought 67.35% of the shares of Savannah Bank ...

was closed down in February 2002, a controversial move that he claimed was due to non-compliance with regulations rather than financial distress. In July 2002, as Minister of Finance, he announced that Nigeria's GDP had grown by 4% annually by the World Bank's estimate, the highest rate for ten years. Martins-Kuye described himself as a god-father of Ogun politics, leading the conservative group of the Ogun State PDP. He claimed to have installed

Gbenga Daniel Gbenga Daniel (born 6 April 1956) is a Nigerian politician and Governor of Ogun State of Nigeria from 29 May 2003 to 29 May 2011. He is the owner of Kresta Laurel, an Electro-mechanical Engineering company, he started in 1990. He is also the F ...

as governor, but by 2010 had become an opponent of Daniel.

Minister for Commerce and Industry

Martins-Kuye was nominated as minister of Commerce and Industry in March 2010 by Acting President

. This was controversial, since he had apparently not been on the list of ministerial nominees from Ogun State submitted by Governor Gbenga Daniel. Some leaders of the PDP state chapter wrote a petition protesting the nomination to the national PDP chairman, Prince

Vincent Ogbulafor Vincent Eze Ogbulafor (24 May 1949 – 6 October 2022) was a Nigerian politician. He was the Chairman of the Opposition, as a member of the People's Democratic Party of Nigeria. Prior to this post, he was National Secretary of the party. He res ...

. On assuming office on 6 April 2010 Martins-Kuye called for a 100% improvement in the quality of implementation of the nation's budget. He also called for expenditure on programmes and projects that would impact directly on the living standard of the people.

Retirement and death

Martins-Kuye ceased to be a minister in 2011. He died in Ago Iwoye on 17 January 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martins-Kuye, Jubril 1942 births 2021 deaths People from Ogun State University of Ibadan alumni Harvard Business School alumni Yoruba politicians Federal ministers of Nigeria Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians Social Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians United Nigeria Congress Party politicians Members of the Senate (Nigeria)