He has stated that internal squabbles continue to paralyse the government and "if gone unchecked, could result in national paralysis and the tragic death of hope itself.

"[3] Onwe is from ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State in south east geographical location of Nigeria.

Onwe studied law on a scholarship at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he earned his bachelor's degree.

As a prelude to the conference, Onwe wrote an essay published in the New Internationalist in June 1993,[4] which extolled the principle of universality and indivisibility over the concept of the cultural relativity and peculiarity of human rights.

Onwe was a founding member of the Civil Liberties Organization's United Kingdom Section alongside Dr. Amazu Anthony Asouzu.

After joining the British Labour Party in 1992, he worked on the election campaigns of MPs Bernie Grant and Paul Boateng between 1992 and 2005.

Onwe returned to Nigeria after a successful legal practice in the United Kingdom to run for a seat in the Senate to represent Ebonyi Central in the 2007 general elections on the platform of the People's Democratic Party (PDP).

"[8] In the first few weeks as a senator, Onwe co-sponsored several motions, including a motion exhorting President Goodluck Jonathan to concentrate more on intelligence gathering as a central tool in combating terrorism following the bomb blast in Abuja on the occasion of the celebrations marking the fiftieth anniversary of Nigeria's independence on 1 October 2010.