Mikel John Obi has insisted that the appearance money row that overshadowed Nigeria’s progress into the last 16 of the World Cup, and led to a training session being cancelled last week, has been resolved, enabling the players to focus all their attention on Monday’s knockout tie against France.

Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s president, had been forced to intervene when the players complained that they wanted the money that they were due for competing in the World Cup, as part of an agreement that was reached with the country’s football federation before the tournament started, paid while they were still in Brazil.

At the president’s request, it is understood that the sports minister, Tamuno Danagogo, flew into Brasília to meet the players at their team hotel and hand over $3.4m (£2m) in cash, which will be divided up among the squad. The sum is approximately 30% of the amount that Nigeria will receive from Fifa for competing in the knockout stage. The Nigeria players are also entitled to 40% of the $9m prize money each country receives for taking part in the second round with further incremental bonuses to follow depending on their progress.

In an story that has echoes of the problems that Ghana and Cameroon also experienced at these finals, Nigeria’s players were not prepared to wait until the end of the tournament, when Fifa distribute the prize money, because of concerns that the individual payments would take too long to arrive. In 2010, the appearance fees were not paid for more than 12 months and there were also problems at last year’s Confederations Cup.

The situation was in danger of seriously damaging Nigeria’s preparations for their first knockout game at a World Cup finals in 16 years until president Jonathan personally spoke to the players to provide them with assurances. Nwankwo Kanu, the former Nigeria and Arsenal striker, tweeted on Sunday to thank the president for “sending [the] minister of sports to come and make the boys happy”.

Mikel, sitting alongside Stephen Keshi, the Nigeria coach, was unable to conceal a smile whenever the issue was brought up in the press conference on the eve of the France match. “I don’t think there was any major issues about money, I think it was just little discussions here and there, the players and the coaches and the football association, it’s just what happens anywhere,” he said.

“I play for Chelsea and I know how these things work, it’s something that happens everywhere, it was not a major problem, it was a little issue and was quickly clarified. We’re very focused on the game and I don’t think it will take any concentration out of the game. We’re looking forward to the game, it’s going to be spectacular.”

Pressed on the matter again later, Mikel grinned and said: “I think we’ve talked about this bonus issue. Seriously, I don’t think there was a massive problem, like the way it’s come out. It was just a little thing about what the association think we deserve to get. We had a chat about it, it wasn’t a problem.

“We used the day we didn’t train to get a recovery day and talk about the match [against Argentina] the night before. Everything is fine now, we’ve been training since the day we didn’t train. We’re focused on the game and we want to win it as much as the fans.”

It was not the only difficult question that Mikel had to address in front of the world’s media. The midfielder was asked about his poor form in this tournament, whether he would consider leaving Chelsea now that Cesc Fábregas has signed, and how the players were concentrating on football when there are so many problems back home in Nigeria, including in Jos, Mikel’s home city, where Islamist militants set off two bombs that killed 123 people last month.

“It’s been quite a tragedy but we’re here, we’ve got a job to do, we’ve got to play the games, we have to get on with it, things that are going on back home we shouldn’t let it affect us, we want to do well,” said Mikel, who insisted he has no intention of leaving Stamford Bridge. “Football is what unites everyone back home, as long as we keep winning and doing well, football alone can bring unity back to the areas with various problems.”

Whether Nigeria can put some smiles on faces may well depend heavily on what sort of performance Ahmed Musa can deliver. The CSKA forward scored twice in the 3-2 defeat against Argentina and has been singled out by Didier Deschamps, the France manager, as the player they have to stop.

Musa, however, will be observing the holy month of Ramadan and it remains to be seen what impact fasting during the daytime and abstaining from drinking liquids will have on his energy levels during a match that will kick-off at 1pm local time and be played in high temperatures. “It’s a normal thing to do, he’s used to it,” Keshi said.

The Nigeria coach was less impressed with the idea that the conditions will favour his players and hinder France. “Don’t have it in mind because we’re from Africa everywhere is hot,” he said. “Most of our players are from Europe, so we have the same problem. In Cuiabá the temperature was terrible and we had a problem with it but managed to finish. If it’s going to be bad for France, it’s going to be bad for Nigeria.”