After a two-year lay-off from international football, Babangida was recalled to the Nigeria team for the 2004 African Cup of Nations preparations in Tunisia.

In 1991, at the age of 17, he left club Niger Tornadoes to sign with Dutch Eredivisie side Roda JC, after performing well at the 1991 All-Africa Games.

Solid performances at both international and club level led to interest from Dutch side Ajax, as Louis van Gaal was looking to replace Babangida's compatriot Finidi George,[3] who had recently departed to Real Betis.

[13] Ajax clinched the second title of the season with a 5–0 victory over PSV in the KNVB Cup final, with the Nigerian scoring the first goal.

[1] The European season, however, ended in disappointment as Ajax finished bottom of their group behind Olympiacos, Dinamo Zagreb and Porto.

[7] In an attempt to offload the player, Ajax came to an agreement with the Turkish Süper Lig side Gençlerbirliği, who signed Babangida on a half-year loan deal until the end of the season.

[16] The spell in Turkey, however, proved to be an unhappy time for Babangida and the Ankara side chose no to pursue their interest in the player once the loan deal expired.

[17] Looking for a move away from Netherlands, Babangida came close to signing with AJ Auxerre, but received a last-minute call from Ronald Koeman and agreed to join him at Vitesse instead.

[19] Babangida signed with Ittihad of Saudi Arabia in September 2002, joining Bebeto and Titi Camara, but walked out of the team in November after disagreements with José Oscar Bernardi.

[23] On 30 April 2003, three years since Babangida played his last game for the club, it was announced that both sides had come to an agreement and the player's contract was finally terminated.

[25] The move, however, was put off due to the outbreak of SARS in China,[26] and Babangida signed with the second-tier side Changchun Yatai shortly after.

[1] Babangida's international chances were partly limited due to the fact that he often found himself behind Finidi George in the pecking order.

[1] He played an important role in his team's Olympic triumph in Atlanta in 1996,[30] as Nigeria overcame tough resistance from Brazil and Argentina, packed with the likes of Dida, Roberto Carlos, Bebeto, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Hernán Crespo, Claudio López, Ariel Ortega and Diego Simeone among others.

[36][37] Babangida scored two spectacular goals against South Africa to put Nigeria through to the final against Cameroon, where they drew 2–2, before being narrowly defeated 3–4 on penalties.