Praiz took to the stage at Martin Mabutho’s memorial event at Landmark Center, Lagos, Nigeria on September 25, 2021. Martin, who until his death, was MultiChoice Nigeria’s Chief Customer Officer, died on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, in Cape Town, South Africa following a brief illness. He would have turned 48 years old this month.
His family, friends and colleagues gathered to celebrate his well-spent life at an evening of tributes, memories and reflection. They shared their fondest memories of the executive and celebrated his posthumous birthday.
Praiz joined the guests in the celebration by performing Adele’s ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’. He also shared a few words about his relationship with Martin. “Martin was very instrumental in aiding my growth as a musician and I definitely miss him. We are here to celebrate his life and it’s all going to be alright”, he said.
Wana Wana also performed spoken words, Declassical Choir & Orchestra sang some of Martin’s favourite tunes, and Cobhams Asuquo joined in the celebration by performing Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ .
The event tagged ‘Memories of Martin’ was hosted by Chigul and Do2dTUN, and had in attendance industry leaders, dignitaries and public figures including the CEO of MultiChoice Nigeria, John Ugbe; the Ambassador of the Republic of Botswana to Nigeria, Pule Mphothwe; popular comedian, Basketmouth; TV personalities Ebuka Obi-Uchendu and Toke Makinwa, all of who attested to Mabutho’s impact in his short but very full life.
John Ugbe, who spoke about how Martin led a fulfilled life said, “It’s very strange to be talking about Martin and trying to talk about him in the past tense. But, if there’s one thing that gives me joy it is that Martin lived a lot of lives. It’s really strange that he’s just 48. He lived a life that will take people several lifetimes to live and that’s why everyone has much to say about him.”.
In a career that spanned more than 20 years at MultiChoice, Martin kick-started his MultiChoice journey in 1999 and was later appointed Brand Manager at MNet in 2003. He led the Marketing and Sales effort for DStv Mobile in Sub-Saharan Africa before being 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 is survived by his wife Thato, his four kids and his parents.
