This may just be the background story behind expulsion of Kannywood actress Rahama Sadau

By now it is no longer news that top Kannywood actress, Rahama Sadau, was expelled by The Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria because she featured in a romantic musical video by singer, ClassiQ where she hugged and cuddled the music artist.

 

What many people don't know is the background story behind the actions of the leadership of the conservative Hausa movie industry, Kannywood. 

Until 2007, Kano was the home of a thriving film industry in the Hausa language. Hausa language ‘video-films’ are similar to the larger ‘Nollywood’ Nigerian film industry, but are stylistically different, with most films including song and dance sequences influenced by Indian films and hip-hop music videos. 

However, things took a turn when a sex scandal involving a leaked sex of a very popular Hausa film actress Maryam ‘Hiyana’ Usman having sex with her boyfriend Usman Bobo instigated a change in the leadership of the Kano State Censorship Board. 

Maryam 'Hiyana' Usman

Maryam Hiyana was one of the most popular actresses back then in Kannywood, kind of like the Genevieve or Omotola of Kannywood. 

She had sex with Usman Bobo, a bureau de change owner and the guy filmed the whole encounter. What we are not sure of is if she was aware he was filming it. 

Like they say out there, the guy 'shagged and bragged' to his friends that he had slept with the great Maryam Hiyana, but they didn't believe him. In a bid to convince them, he showed them the video. Unfortunately, when he left the phone unattended, one of the people he had shown the video to copied it  and that is how it went viral.

The leaked sex tape caused a big scandal and it got so bad that the actress had to go into hiding for fear of her life. Some Islamists also allegedly threatened her life over the video According to an article written at the time,

Residents of Kano State now live in fear, as Muslim groups are allegedly planning to attack the Hausa film actress, Maryam Usman, popularly known as Hiyana, over her x-rated video phone-clip circulating in the state, a move described by the Islamic group as immoral and abuse of Shariah law.

The clip caused public outcry in the state which resulted in Maryam’s expulsion by the film makers association, along with 17 other members.

Executive Secretary of Kano Film Censorship Board, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kurawa, in a press release made available to THISDAY, said the banned actress’ participation in film will threaten peace enjoyed in the state.

Following the sex scandal which instigated a change in the Kano State Censorhip Board, a new director general of the  Board, Abubakar Rabo Abdulkarim, formerly commandant of the hisbah (Sharia religious police), was appointed in August 2007. The board had been instituted in 2001 after the implementation of Islamic sharia law as a compromise measure between the filmmakers and the government. The censorship board enabled the films to continue being made but with some restrictions on dress and interaction between male and female actors.

Click HERE for the full article on the censorship crisis in Kano.

Since that time till present, the board have been very strict on issues concerning male and female interaction which must follow the dictates of Sharia law.

This, I believe, is why the hammer has been very heavy on Rahama Sadau

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