By Osasu Obayiuwana BBC Sport, Monastir

Report: Nigeria 0-1 Morocco Nigeria team profile Nigeria squad selector

Nigeria, among the favourites for this year's crown, were beaten 1-0 in their opening game on Tuesday.

But Mohammed told BBC Sport: "I still have confidence in Chukwu."

He added: "I think that the team Chukwu presented for the match against Morocco is the best that the country can present at the moment.

"It was unfortunate that we lost, but in football sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.

"I think that if Chukwu and the players are given a bit of a push, we will be alright in the next two games," Mohammed said.

But the sports minister insisted that the Super Eagles ultimately require the services of an expatriate coach, as long as the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) can raise the funds to pay his salary.

All I have in my mind is for Nigeria to win this cup and I think they are still going to do that Musa Mohammed, Nigeria sports minister

"If we are going to have a foreign coach, the Nigeria Football Association must show that they have the funds to foot the bill.

"Unless we change the policy, it is not the responsibility of the government to pay for a foreign coach," Mohammed said.

The sports minister denied interfering in the daily running of the NFA, which would go against Fifa regulations that protect football associations from governmental interference.

But Mohammed said that he reserves the right to ensure that NFA secretary-general Taiwo Ogunjobi, who is the body's chief executive, does a proper job of managing Nigerian football.

"If he [the secretary-general of the NFA] is doing things wrong we have to put him right.

"Don't forget that the ministry appointed the secretary-general."

With immense pressure on Chukwu and NFA officials to earn their passage to the knockout stages of the Nations Cup, Mohammed did not rule out the dissolution of the NFA board should they fail to live up to expectations in Tunisia.

"Let's wait and see. For now, all I have in my mind is for Nigeria to win this cup and I think they are still going to do that," Mohammed said.