Koudougou: The closing of the first edition of the compulsory patriotic immersion was held at the Place de la Nation in Koudougou, this Tuesday, under the patronage of the Prime Minister, Head of Government, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo. The ceremony was attended by members of the government, administrative authorities of the Nando region, defense and security forces, traditional and religious authorities of Koudougou, as well as parents of the immersed.

According to Burkina Information Agency, at the beginning of his address, His Excellency Prime Minister Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo asked the audience for a minute’s standing ovation for those he would henceforth call “comrades called up from the first class of the IPO.” After congratulating them on their admission to the 2025 baccalaureate session, he emphasized that the Head of State, Captain Ibrahim Traore, had instructed him to remind them that they must henceforth bear in mind that sovereignty is not negotiable but acquired. He thus invited them to fully grasp President Ibrahim Traore’s commitment to building a free and prosperous society.

While reminding them that, as pioneers of patriotic immersion, they have the responsibility of the progressive popular revolution on their shoulders, he urged them to set out to conquer knowledge without abandoning the anger of civic duty and patriotism. The head of government, Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, paid tribute, on behalf of the President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traore, to the supervisors who made it possible to achieve this satisfaction.

The Minister of Secondary Education and Vocational Training, Aboubakar Savadogo, for his part, recalled that thirty days ago, the batch of 59,179 new high school graduates, including 30,664 girls from all regions of the country, enrolled in the program called “Compulsory Patriotic Immersion.” He encouraged “ambassadors of civic spirit and patriotism” to always work towards serving the homeland.

All the speakers, each according to their rank and grade, welcomed the implementation of this program resulting from the presidential initiative “for quality education in Burkina Faso.” Indeed, in turn, the traditional chief of Dapoya, representative of the canton chief of Lalle, and the governor of the region of Nando, Adama Jean Yves Bere, highlighted the remarkable moments for a Burkina which regains its integrity and its sovereignty.

Before proceeding with the symbolic presentation of participation certificates to around ten patriots, Reine Marguerite Bangre, on behalf of all the pioneers, read and presented the charter for compulsory patriotic immersion 2025 called “Charter for social cohesion” which is divided into 22 articles. The ceremony concluded with a parade of around ten sections, each representing an immersion site. In a general atmosphere of jubilation, the 2025 cohort immersed in the Nando region expressed their joy at this experience, which will undoubtedly mark the rest of their journey.

Participants in the ceremony were treated to practical demonstrations of the self-defense techniques acquired during this immersion. Note that the Nando region has a total of 6,484 submerged individuals spread across two basins, that of Koudougou with 5,006 against 1,478 for the Leo basin.