Babangida was born in Kaduna, Nigeria. In 1991, at the age of 17, he left local club Niger Tornadoes to sign with Dutch Eredivisie side Roda JC, after performing well at the 1991 All-Africa Games. He was loaned out to Roda's league rivals VVV-Venlo until the end of the season. Babangida made a total of six league appearances, scoring three times in the 1991–92 season. Despite Venlo's relegation to Eerste Divisie,&lt;ref name="Netherlands 91/92"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; Babangida remained at the club for another year.