Tributes Pour in For Martin Mabutho

Vanessa Obioha

The media and entertainment industry were shocked to hear about the passing of Martin Mabutho, the Chief Customer Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria on Tuesday evening. The leading media and entertainment company announced that Mabutho, a Botswanan who many mistook for a South African died in the early hours of Tuesday, August 24 at Cape Town, South Africa after a brief illness.

Until his death, he was responsible for driving the company’s customer group strategy covering customer value management, sales, marketing, customer experience and care with his appointment as the Chief Customer Officer in 2018. The deceased’s relationship with the MultiChoice Group started in 1999 when he joined MultiChoice Botswana as a Customer Service Supervisor. He later became a Brand Manager at MNet in 2003 and led the Marketing and Sales effort for DStv Mobile in Sub-Saharan Africa before he was appointed MultiChoice Nigeria’s General Manager, Sales and Marketing in 2013.

Mabutho was known for his lively spirit. At press conferences and other media events, he was always cheerful and fully embodied the friendly and humbling persona expected of a customer relations officer. His gruff voice and towering height always stood him out in the crowd.

In a statement, the CEO of MultiChoice Nigeria John Ugbe described him as “not just a colleague but a very close friend and most trusted adviser. He was well-loved by everyone for his energy and hard work, his warmth, good humour and the creativity and positive attitude he always brought to the team. He will be greatly missed.”

Cerebral filmmaker Femi Odugbemi and pioneering Academy Director of MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) West Africa has glowing memories of Mabutho.“innovation and inspiration for me and many entrepreneurs in the creative and digital industries. He was one of the most visionary enablers I have ever met, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to build capacities in any creative enterprise. He was generous and always personable. He loved Nigeria and to many of us, Martin is family. He was a giant of a man with giant-sized ideas. He contributed immensely to the success of the Multichoice Talent Factory teaching and mentoring our students. He was a genius in designing the technologies that connected consumers and viewers to richer content all the time. It’s a huge loss and we can only pray for God to give comfort to his family and his friends and colleagues across the continent.”

CEO of BHM Ayeni Adekunle in a statement described him as a visionary marketing genius “who loved his brands, their users, and all the ideas that bring excitement and action. It was an honour to have been able to work with and learn from him…His big personality, brilliance, warmth, enthusiasm, humour and positive energy which he brought to every room he entered will be sorely missed.”

In his tribute to the deceased, the CEO of X3M Ideas called him a genius.

“Martin was a valued client and a champion of everything X3M Ideas. His drive for excellence and out-of-the-box creativity inspired us to constantly expand our thinking.

We’ll terribly miss his genius and the light with which he brightened the lives of everyone who came in contact with him.”

Mabutho was aged 47 and is survived by his aged parents, his wife Thato and four children.