Yesterday, family, friends and colleagues gathered to celebrate Martin Mabutho, who died on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, at Cape Town, South Africa, after a brief illness.
The memorial service which was held virtually, had family and close friends in physical attendance to give their final tribute to Martin.
The CEO and Executive Director of the MultiChoice Group, Calvo Mawela, described Martin as someone who always showed up. “He’ll be greatly missed for the shared vision we had for this company. He’ll be missed for the success and tribulations that we have had navigating the challenging times we faced in Nigeria”.
Fhulu Badugela, MultiChoice Africa CEO, also talked about Martin’s dedication to doing good work. He said, “Martin always sought opportunities to do things better and deliver value to the business every day. He approached all of this with authenticity and clarity of purpose”.
John Ugbe, CEO MultiChoice Nigeria went further to say that “he had a unique way of looking at problems and finding ways that no one else thought of. More recently, he became more passionate about positioning our content to the best advantage. This passion has led to his love and contribution towards the success of the critically-acclaimed Big Brother Naija”.
Moving forward, The host, IK Osakioduwa, introduced a few close friends and family to give their final words to Martin. Martin’s college best friend, Itseng Kwelagobe, commended his resilience towards work, “what was unique about Martin was the energy he exuded. He didn’t do anything in half measure. He would always give it his all, almost like there’s no tomorrow. He was also known as the Grillmaster of time, and the grill will not remain the same again.”
Martin’s uncle, Morgan Mabutho, said “he could always count on Martin when there were challenges. He was an extraordinary child. He endeared himself to everyone, and this can be exemplified by his stay in Nigeria”.
Martin was dearly loved by his colleagues. In Nigeria, he was given the name ‘Chukwuemeka’, meaning ‘God has done great things.
The entire MutliChoice family created a short tribute film to bid farewell to the deceased.
The service ended with words of encouragement to the family and a closing prayer by Rev. Fr Jabulani Miya.
Mabutho joined MultiChoice Botswana as a Customer Service Supervisor in 1999 and later became a Brand Manager at MNet in 2003. He 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.
In 2018 he was appointed Chief Customer Officer, responsible for driving the MultiChoice Nigeria customer group strategy covering customer value management, sales, marketing, customer experience and care.
Martin’s life once again proves that ‘it’s not how far but how well. His short life was well-spent investing in friendships, impacting lives and putting smiles on the faces of people.