Ambassador of Botswana to Nigeria, Mr. Pule Mphothwe, has described the death of Mr. Martin Mabutho, Chief Customer Officer of MultiChoice Nigeria as a huge loss to Botswana and the African continent.
Mabutho, aged 47, died on 23 August in South Africa after a brief illness.
In a personally signed condolence letter, Mphothwe stated that Mabutho was a man with an abundance of passion, professionalism, wisdom, love for friends as well as for family.
“We are still at a loss for words, but we find solace in having had the privilege of knowing this gentle giant, who was truly a larger-than-life figure.
“It is no exaggeration that Martin truly made a difference in the lives of whoever crossed his path across the length and breadth of the African continent and, indeed, the rest of the world
“To his MultiChoice colleagues across the continent, especially in his adopted Nigeria, it seems impossible to speak of any consolation in the face of such a bitter loss,” he said.
Mphothwe added that Mabutho, who hailed from Botswana, was the giant baobab tree around whom the citizens of the country resident in Nigeria gathered in good and difficult times.
“He was an integral part of our small country team. To put it in local parlance, he was our ‘oga at the top’ and we benefited from his generosity of spirit. Personally, he was my go-to person whenever I either wanted to broach ideas or just a bit of banter on any issue of the day, including practicing my nascent pidgin, which he loved conversing in, something that endeared him to our warm and ever friendly hosts,” he added.
The late Mabutho joined MultiChoice Botswana as a Customer Service Supervisor in 1999, rising to the position of Brand Manager, M-net, in 2003.
He led the Marketing and Sales effort for DStv Mobile in sub-Saharan Africa before his appointment as MultiChoice Nigeria’s General Manager, Sales and Marketing, in 2013.
In 2018, he was appointed Chief Customer Officer, with responsibility for driving MultiChoice Nigeria’s customer group strategy covering customer value management, sales, marketing, customer experience and care.
He is survived by aged parents, his wife, Thato, and four children.
