Maryam Usman (Hiyana), the Hausa actress at the centre of the controversy that engulfed the Hausa movie industry last year, has given birth to a baby boy last Sunday, a source told nfc last night.

The delivery was said to have taken place in a private hospital in Kano, home of the popular Hausa movie industry.

Maryam, the star of the movie ‘Hiyana,’ after which she was nicknamed, was engulfed in controversy in early August 2007 after she and her boyfriend had appeared in a sex clip recorded with a cellphone.

Hiyana went into hiding as a result of the indecent exposure. She eventually got married to her heart-throb, Alhaji Ado Ahmed Dangulla, a Kano-based businessman, as his second wife last November.

But the controversy led to drastic measures taken by the Kano State government in order to "sanitise" the movie industry. These included a six-month ban on all movie activities and subsequent jailing of actors, producers and distributors.

Ado and Hiyana’s marriage life has been quiet and, some say, full of love.

According to our source, both Hiyana and her baby are in good condition, adding that the naming ceremony will be performed on Sunday.