In 1985 a group of professionals came together to nurture a dream into reality. They were from diverse backgrounds, class and age brackets but they were united in one major area - they provided voice work on broadcast materials used on television and radio for commercials and other purposes.

Many were not strangers to the broadcast industry having worked in various capacities from reportorial to news and programme presentation. Some had also been exposed to the theatre through stage performances and radio drama. They were all experienced in the use of language, be it English or vernacular, as a major vehicle not just for communication but to convey, convince, influence and change ideas, societal norms and patterns of behaviour.

In other words this small group of men and women were word masters. They were given words, and using their interpretative skills - a lilt of tone, depth of pitch, etc., gave the inanimate, life and meaning. Even then as early as the seventies, production houses in Nigeria had slowly begun to recognize the importance and necessity of these artistes. But it was a situation in which they (producers) called the shots. They determined fees, nature of service and conditions of work. They determined need and demand. In short these producers held all the aces.

The Voice Artistes had long recognized that they had no voice and very little say (if at all) in what was fast becoming for many of them a major source of livelihood. They needed to speak with one voice.  They needed to influence decisions affecting their area of specialization. They needed to instill and maintain standards and professional excellence in their work.  They needed to pull resources together. Thus began the arduous but exciting task of forming the Association of Voice Over Artistes (AVOA) Nigeria.

One of the most formidable jobs was to get the Allied Industries to take AVOA seriously i.e. as a strong, viable body which promoted and articulated the needs of its members. That task still continues today.

AVOA till date, has focused upon the following objectives:­-

• Bringing together practicing Artistes under one protective banner.
• Acting as a liaising body with relevant organizations especially in the areas of contractual agreements.
• Ensuring artistic excellence in out-put.
• Recognizing voice work as a respectable and acclaimed source of livelihood.
• Creating fora for interaction between AVOA and other organizations within the Advertising, Film, Music and Broadcast Industries.

To date, despite many obstacles, the Association has made remarkable progress in some areas, these include:

• Registering the Association under Incorporated Trustees of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
• Renting premises for its secretariat, THE VOICE HOUSE.
• Building a GAZEBO (a meeting place) at the Voice House.
• Establishing 2 software based DIGITAL AUDIO PRODUCTION STUDIOS at the Voice House
• Organizing TRAINING PROGRAMMES for new and old members.
• Successfully negotiating INCREASES IN FEES for members.
• Successfully developing BETTER CONDITIONS OF SERVICE for members.
• Organizing an ANNUAL SOIREE - a social forum to enable producers meet new members in a more relaxed environment.
• Pressuring Advertising Agencies for OUTSTANDING PAYMENTS for members.
• Establishing a model structure of TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE between members and their publics.
• Establishing a website, www.voiceartistesnigeria.org. for the Association.

• AVOA is greatly hampered by the absence of infrastructure to, for instance, monitor on-air jobs nationwide. This would forestall situations where jobs performed for radio are broadcast on television in states other than those agreed for broadcast.
• Inadequate funding - AVOA is mainly funded by membership dues; this has punctuated the Association's outreach programme on career counselling.
• Non-payment of Royalties and irregular payment schedules. AVOA members never know when their jobs will be paid for. The usual agreement that jobs must be paid for, before transmission is flouted by players in the industries.
• No insurance for members to help them during periods of illness, accident or other problems.

Despite all setbacks, AVOA continues to plod on with its envisaged goals:­

• Payment of royalty on its intellectual property by Advertisers.
• Outreach Programmes to secondary and tertiary institutions for career counselling, thereby creating jobs for the citizenry.
• Establishment of state chapters of AVOA where voice-over artistes in other states of the federation can come together under one protective umbrella and make a meaningful livelihood out of a fast growing profession, like their Lagos Counterparts.
• Establishing an Insurance scheme for its members.

It is however envisaged that by the time AVOA's goals and visions are fully realized, the Association would have developed a profession that will create more jobs for Nigerians.