Chadian General Brahim Seid (R) is welcomed by Nigerien General Seyni Garba (C) at the airport of Diffa, southeastern Niger, on April 3, 2015, near the Nigerian town of Malam Fatori

Only five days remains for the expiration of the deadline given by leaders of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger for the deployment of a joint military force of 8,700 men to counter Boko Haram.

The joint force, with operational headquarters in N’djamena, Chad was expected to be up and running by 30 July, according to an agreement reached by the leaders of the four nations, including the Beninoise leader, Boni Yayi at a summit in Abuja Airport on 11 June. Cameroon was represented by its defence minister.

Nigeria had appointed Maj General Tukur Buratai a week earlier to head the Multi-national Joint Task Force and pledged a financial commitment of $100 million, with an initial payment of $30million. Chad and Cameroon have deputy commander and chief of staff posts in the force

But with Buratai’s appointment two weeks ago as Nigeria’s chief of army staff, Nigeria appears to have sapped the force of the leadership it needs to confront Boko Haram, whose militants continue to hit soft targets in the region with deadly accuracy.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to announce a replacement for Buratai in N’djamena.

Over 1,000 people have been killed by the insurgents, who now call themselves Islamic State West African province, in the last four weeks, across the region, with suicide bombings, planted bombs and brazen attacks in weakly guarded towns and villages in the four countries.

There were even unconfirmed reports that the Boko Haram insurgents have captured five local councils in both Borno and Yobe states in Nigeria.

President Buhari visited America last week to solicit further military assistance to Nigeria and the region from the US government.