A former senator and two time former minister, Jubril Martins-Kuye is dead. He died on Sunday morning from an disclosed illness. Sources say Martins-Kuye died in his hometown in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

A chartered accountant, Martins-Kuye practiced for several years in Lagos before moving into politics.

Kuye was first elected to the Nigerian Senate in the truncated Third Republic. When democracy returned in 1999, he ran unsuccessfully for governor as PDP candidate against Olusegun Osoba in Ogun State. He was subsequently appointed minister of state for finance by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and remained in his cabinet until 2003.

Between 2010 and 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan tapped appointed him as his commerce and industry minister towards the tail end of late President Umar Yar-Adua.

While he didn’t exactly retire from politics, he did slow down considerably because of age. He once said in his last interview, “It’s not easy to retire from politics because politics starts from the grassroots. That’s why Americans say all politics is local. I am guiding from the back. At 80, you look back and discover that most of your friends are gone.

“So, unless you are a special human being blessed by God, your relevance is compromised at 80. Some of them (young politicians) will follow you and hail you when you give a piece of advice that goes with what they have in their minds, but ignore it when it doesn’t.”

Until his death, he was the Aare Musilumi of Ogun State for several decades. He worked across Nigeria’s political and ideological spectrum and sought alliances between the north and the south.

Martins-Kuye according to sources will be buried later today according to Islamic rites in his sprawling country home in Ago-Iwoye.

Martins-Kuye is survived by two wives and several children.

Incidentally, his only wife, Iyabo and his estranged wife, Bisi, are practisicing Christians.