Remembering Joseph Habineza: Rwanda’s Former Ambassador to Nigeria

By  Dolapo Aina

The passing on of Rwanda’s former Ambassador to Nigeria and two-time sports and culture Minister of Rwanda, Ambassador Joseph Habineza came as a rude shock to his family members (nuclear and extended), Rwandans, his close friends, the Nigerian community in Rwanda, Nigerians in Nigeria especially his close Nigerian brothers like Mr Ben Murray-Bruce, Mr Tonye Cole, Mr Soni Irabor, Mr Ade Adefeko; just to name a few; who knew him and interacted with him during his time at Nigerian Breweries, during his stint as the Rwandan Ambassador to Nigeria and during his two stints as the sports Minister of Rwanda.

Before, during and after the three-day burial ceremony (Saturday 28th – Monday 30th August 2021) which I attended, the three days brought back several memories of our interactions and discussions from when I first met him in the last quarter of 2013 to my last discussion with him in Kigali on Friday, June 11th 2021 (few days before he flew to Lagos, Nigeria. He was always shuttling Kigali and Nigeria, meeting and merging investors who were interested in investing in Rwanda). Interacting with close family members like his mother (who quipped I should’ve made my tribute a day earlier in French, so she would understand), his brothers-in-law, Mr Robert Bayigamba his best friend (since 1977) who introduced me to Ambassador Joe’s mother and interpreted my words for her and others, it was glaring the nuclear and extended family was a very close-knitted one. And this brought back the old African saying of show me your family, family background, family knowing where you are from and where you are; for they can tell your story.

So many memories (I would share some for the first time for public consumption) I recollect of a listening gentleman who always kept his word. I remember when I had informed the Erelu Kuti IV of Lagos; Erelu Abiola Docemu (a traditional aristocrat and successful and astute businesswoman. Her role serves as the ceremonial queen mother and reigns as regent of Lagos upon the passing on of an incumbent monarch until a substantive successor is chosen by the college of kingmakers) about hospitality opportunities in Rwanda in 2014 and the Lagos Princess was contemplating visiting Rwanda; Ambassador Joe’s schedule was extremely tight that the only way he could reach out was calling because he was heading back to Kigali. He kept his word and placed the call when he arrived in Kigali.

I remember him as someone who had a listening ear, who had a passion for young people, who was a selfless leader who impacted lives; a unique leader who spoke his mind no matter whose ox was gored; a very confident gentleman who did things differently; got results and did not follow the crowd. The list is endless. Many personal stories (I would share a few) and it is safe to state in this piece that Ambassador Habineza was the person (and Ms Josephine Fifi Rurangwa who headed RwandAir in Nigeria back then) who gave me the opportunity to travel outside Nigeria for the first time.
I remember a particular Sunday in 2014 (March 2 to be exact), Ambassador Habineza, Bella Crug (a Rwandan lady and friend who runs an Italian restaurant in Victoria Island, Lagos) and I were heading to Muson Centre for Silverbird’s Man of the year awards. The conversation in the car was in Kinyarwanda and very animated. We arrived at the venue and Bella Crug and I decided to look for somewhere to sit amongst the regular guests but Ambassador Joe told us to follow him since we were his guests. Both young guests of the Ambassador found themselves right in front of the stage (table 7 if my memory of that day is still intact.) Our table had another West African Ambassador (Sierra Leone or so) to Nigeria, Mr Tunde Braithwaite (now late) and the elderly Dutchman, Chief Joop Berkhout (born in Amsterdam in 1930); who is known as the father of publishing in Nigeria and the founding managing director of Evans Brothers Publishing in 1966 and who has lived in Ibadan, Oyo State in Nigeria for fifty-five years.

I remember several conversations at other occasions at Eko Hotel in 2014. I remember how one would text in the morning and Ambassador Joe would reply almost immediately and you wondered if he slept. And his response was usually that he gets up at 5;30 am every day and goes to play lawn tennis (a daily routine which close associates know him for and which I still witnessed in Kigali in 2019). I remember him always saying that he would always pick up calls which aren’t registered or saved on his phones because according to him; “You don’t know if God is calling you to give you one billion.” Apparently, I once heard him say that he used this same technique of unsaved number to call potential job seekers who sent in their applications, those who picked the calls and spoke to the unknown call who happened to be him, went on to the next stage of the interview process.
I remember when he granted interviews to some media houses in 2014 especially on Alibaba’s Seriously (a popular radio show Nigeria Info FM Lagos) and how important information about nation branding was disseminated in a relaxed, jovial format right there in the studio (and the banter amongst Alibaba, his proteges and Ambassador Habineza when commercials were being run during commercial breaks) which got a lot of listeners calling in and the feedback I got from those who listened and knew I was involved.

I remember several early morning breakfasts at one the extremely secluded boutique hotels in the premises of Eko Hotels before he dashed to the airport to catch a flight to Abuja or to Kigali. When I was informed of his demise by Usher Komugisha (a versatile sports journalist who was the person with me when I saw him on June 11th), I remember where I was as it was raining that Friday evening. Coincidentally, during the beginning of that week (August 16-20), I was just getting down to editing the interview I had with Usher Komugisha which was conducted on that Friday (June 11). And as I worked on the interview every day in the wee hours of the morning, I always smiled as I heard Ambassador Habineza’s voice in the background of the audio interview (he and some of his associates were in the same vicinity as Usher and I). When he was about to leave the premises, he came over to where we were seated and said; “Dola; I am going. See you.” Normally, I would have walked him to his car (a routine) but because I was conducting an interview, I could not do so and I could only acknowledge his goodbye with a nod of the head and a hand gesture. Only if one had known with hindsight.

I remember the interviews I conducted with him. After his demise, I did some Youtube search and realised that I had interviewed and recorded him four times in 2014 (thrice in Lagos and once in Kigali). The Kigali interview at Amahoro Stadium was quite interesting. I had walked into the stadium early in the morning since Ambassador Joe was an early riser and the security guard at the first post who could not speak English but only Kinyarwanda, was so confident in her pose and body language (this was not the type of confidence one saw, attached or associated with female security guards in 2014) whilst we tried to understand each other speaking different languages that I had to relate the experience to Ambassador Habineza when I got into his office.

I remember that on my way to my hotel abode after the interview, his personal assistant called me to ask if I wanted to attend a Presidential cocktail for the Rwandan cycling team in the evening at Serena Hotel? My reply was in the affirmative. I remember that even though I had tweeted at the President Paul Kagame some days earlier about an interview with him and the President had responded positively to my tweet, it was Ambassador Habineza who did the introduction at one of the hallways in Serena Hotel after one of the officials in the Presidency then (Sylvia Gasana) had called out to me, gotten my attention and chaperoned me after the event. I remember the brief conversation that ensued between the President, Ambassador Habineza and I. But I cannot reply the witty comments I made to get both men laugh and smile. I remember Ambassador Habineza’s comment to me after he returned from walking the President to his vehicle.

I remember the numerous times our paths would cross at some events in Kigali and a hearty conversation would ensue after we both laugh and say, “you are here”. I remember seeing him at several Nigeria-related events like Nigeria’s Independence Day celebrations on October 1st 2019 and also at Flutterwave’s introduction into Rwanda at Ubumwe Hotel, on Wednesday, 12 February 2020. I remember meeting him at Marriott Kigali in 2019 at an event and Ambassador Habineza was dressed in the full regalia of the people of Bayelsa State in Niger Delta with the spacious cap and walking stick to match. He always represented his Rwandan culture and also love for Nigerian culture. I remember my reaction when I sent him a message about when he was returning to Kigali and he replied; end of September. I remember my final interaction/question to him, when I asked for his two words/two sentences on Nyimirambo (a town in Kigali), he replied but I didn’t get to see or read his response, for he deleted his message.

I remember that on Monday, 23rd of August (few days after the news of his demise), I heard Ambassador Habineza’s voice emanating from a phone and I had to ask the person if that voice was his (Ambassador Joe). Yes, came this acquaintance’s response. And right there in this public space, the individual related his own two to three interactions with the former sports Minister of Rwanda. In a nutshell, Ambassador Habineza promised and delivered on connecting him with some tourism clients who in turn gave this tour operator one of his first major breakthroughs. He further stated that when he met the Ambassador much later on (probably years later), Joe (as he is fondly called) didn’t remember the assistance he made. He made a comment which I could relate with, Ambassador Habineza never expected anything in return. Many of such stories flooded Rwanda’s social media platforms the week the news broke of his passing on in Nairobi, Kenya.

I remember during his farewell dinner in August 2014 which was organised by Nigerians and Rwandans residing in Nigeria; people who had known him since his days at Nigerian Breweries made statements stretching more than a decade old. And it was revealed and a known fact that in the African Diplomatic circle, if Ambassador Habineza was not also present at the African Diplomatic function, you would sense it.

Succinctly put, Ambassador Habineza exemplified a selfless leader with exceptional interpersonal and social skills (a rarity in this part), who put others before himself (I witnessed this several times in Nigeria and also in Rwanda). A lot of the Nigeria-Rwanda socio-economic and cultural ties were initiated or commenced by him.

Seeing Ambassador Joseph Habineza lying in state at his residence and watching online whilst viewing from a far distance at the cemetery in Rusororo (due to covid19 measures in Rwanda, only 30 persons are allowed at the actual resting place.) on Monday, 30th of August 2021; was sobering. His departure sent shockwaves in several circles on the Continent and a lot of those who know him and have known him for decades (most especially family, friends, colleagues etc) would still be trying to process the fact that Ambassador Joseph Habineza is no more but his good works and memories live on.

Like the aforementioned acquaintance suggested, a Joseph Habineza Foundation which would focus on harnessing and bringing forth the talented Rwandan youth in the creative space (a passion of his) would be a welcome initiative to immortalise Ambassador Joseph Habineza’s name.

Dolapo Aina writes from Kigali, Rwanda